From concept to application: Exploring trends and guiding developments in miniaturized sample preparation for food contaminant analysis

The excessive use of chemical compounds in agricultural practices has integrated these substances into daily life, raising significant concerns about their impact on human health. In response to these global concerns, numerous analytical strategies have been developed to monitor contaminants in food matrices effectively, aiming to detect and control chemical residues and ensure food safety. In light of this, solid and liquid-based miniaturized sample preparation strategies have been designed to address the complexities of food matrices, enabling accurate qualitative and quantitative analysis of trace-level compounds. These strategies effectively remove interfering endogenous compounds while simultaneously preconcentrating target analytes, ensuring the precise quantification of low contaminant concentrations in challenging food matrices. Despite their extensive applications in food matrix analysis, the literature lacks comprehensive and up-to-date reviews on these microextraction strategies for contaminant analysis in food. Moreover, a critical revision of the main advantages and challenges associated with extracting contaminants from food samples using miniaturized approaches is essential to provide readers with a comprehensive guide for selecting the most suitable method based on the sample type. Hence, this review study brings to light recent applications and innovations regarding versatile solid and liquid-based miniaturized extraction of different contaminants in food matrices.