Using multiwalled carbon nanotube modified electrodes for the adsorptive striping voltammetric determination of hesperidin

Hesperidin, a flavone glycoside found in the skins and juices of citrus fruits, can be detected using multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-modified electrodes using the technique of adsorptive stripping voltammetry (AdSV) with accumulation at open circuit potential. This is relevant because hesperidin can be used as an indication of the citrus fruit juice's freshness. The oxidation mechanism to explain the observed voltammetry corresponds to the redox chemistry of the guaiacol sub-unit within the hesperidin molecular structure. Hesperidin could be detected over a linear range up to 30 μM, and with a detection limit of 0.61 μM and 7 nM, with less than 5% variation between different electrodes, using cyclic voltammetric or square wave adsorptive stripping techniques respectively. This methodology was extended to MWCNT-modified screen-printed electrodes (MWCNT-SPEs), allowing the development of a cheap, mass produced, disposable sensor that we show is capable of measuring the concentration of hesperidin in real orange juice samples, and be applied within the citrus fruit industry.