Sensitive determination of kojic acid in foodstuffs using PVP (polyvinylpyrrolidone) modified acetylene black paste electrode

The voltammetric behaviors of kojic acid (KA) were investigated at polyvinylpyrrolidone (cross-linked) modified acetylene black paste electrode (denoted as PVP/ABPE) in 0.1 mol/L, pH 5.0 HAc–NaAc buffer. A well-defined and sensitive oxidation peak appears at 0.84 V. Compared with an unmodified acetylene black paste electrode (ABPE), the PVP/ABPE remarkably enhances the oxidation peak current of kojic acid, indicative of good potential in sensitive determination of kojic acid. After optimization of experimental conditions, a fast and sensitive electrochemical method was developed for the determination of kojic acid. This method exhibits good linearity over the range from 1.0 × 10−6 mol/L to 1.0 × 10−4 mol/L, and the detection limit is as low as 5.0 × 10−7 mol/L. In order to validate the feasibility of this proposed method, it was used for quantitative analysis of kojic acid in some food samples and the results were satisfying.