Ionic liquid-based ultrasound-assisted surfactant-emulsified microextraction for simultaneous determination of three important flavoring compounds in plant extracts and urine samples

•A novel, simple and efficient LPME based method was developed.•For the first time, IL-USA-SE-ME was compared with four LPME methods.•This method was used for simultaneous determination of three flavoring compounds.•IL-USA-SE-ME is a sensitive method for fennel, basil and urine sample analysis.

For the first time, a novel, efficient and environmentally friendly method termed ionic liquid-based ultrasound-assisted surfactant-emulsified microextraction (IL-UA-SE-ME) was developed and compared with normal-, reversed-, surfactant assisted-dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and ultrasound-assisted surfactant-based emulsification microextraction methods for the analysis of three bioactive and flavoring compounds (para-anisaldehyde, trans-anethole and its isomer estragole) in some fresh plants (fennel and basil), their extracts and urine samples. The results showed that IL-UA-SE-ME is a much more effective method and under the optimum conditions (including extraction solvent: 90 μL of [C6MIM][PF6]; disperser: 5 mg of N-dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid sodium salt; sample pH: 3; sonication time: 5 min; and centrifuging time: 5 min), limits of detection, limits of quantification, linear ranges, recoveries, and enrichment factors were in the range of 16-22 ng mL− 1, 49-67 ng mL− 1, 0.04-90 μg mL− 1, 94.3%-101.1%, and 118-127, respectively.