A new approach for sulfite determination by headspace liquid-phase microextraction with an optical probe

Abstract

A new approach of headspace liquid-phase microextraction with an optical probe (HS-LPME-OP), which solves the problem of the extraction phase retention in the hole of the optical probe and provides the possibility of simpler, more precise and reliable online processing of the analytical signal, was used for sulfite determination. A 1 × 10⁻⁴ M 5,5′-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic) acid (DTNB) solution was used as an acceptor phase. It was placed in a plastic vial fixed in the headspace above the analyte solution. An optical probe immersed in the acceptor phase was used to monitor the analytical signal. Sulfite determination is based on the release of sulfur dioxide from the sample after the addition of ortho-phosphoric acid, followed by its extraction with an aqueous solution of DTNB at pH 7.0. The absorbance was measured at 412 nm. The calibration graph was linear in the range from 32 to 320 μg L⁻¹ with a detection limit of 14 μg L⁻¹. The developed method is sensitive, highly selective and reproducible. It was successfully applied for the sulfite determination in juice, alcoholic beverages and jam.