Rapid and direct determination of fructose in food: A new osmium-polymer mediated biosensor

This paper describes the development and performance of a new rapid amperometric biosensor for fructose monitoring in food analysis. The biosensor is based on the activity of fructose dehydrogenase (FDH) immobilised into a carbon nanotube paste electrode according to two different procedures. The direct wiring of the FDH in a highly original osmium-polymer hydrogel was found to offer a better enzyme entrapment compared to the immobilisation of the enzyme in an albumin hydrogel. The optimised biosensor required only 5 U of FDH and kept the 80% of its initial sensitivity after 4 months. During this time, the biosensor showed a detection limit for fructose of 1 μM, a large linear range between 0.1 and 5 mM, a high sensitivity (1.95 μA cm−2 mM), good reproducibility (RSD = 2.1%) and a fast response time (4 s).Finally, the biosensor was applied for specific determination of fructose in honey, fruit juices, soft and energy drinks. The results indicated a very good agreement with those obtained with a commercial reference kit. No significant interference was observed with the proposed biosensor.

► Fructose content is determined in honey and beverages with no interferences. ► The biosensor method is rapid, simple with no sample pretreatment required. ► A highly original osmium polymer is used as biosensor mediator. ► A biosensor based on a carbon nanotube paste electrode is proposed.