Silver nanoparticles-based plasmonic assay for the determination of sugar content in food matrices

Highlights: • Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were employed to estimate food sugars content. • A fast and simple silver nanoparticles colorimetric assay is proposed. • The ability to form AgNPs was tested and compared for different sugars. • The method was exhaustively applied for the determination of sugars in food samples. • The data obtained were found in good agreement with ion chromatography. -- Abstract: A simple colorimetric assay for sugars (monosaccharides, polyols and disaccharides) quantification based on silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) formation is proposed. Sugars are able to form AgNPs reducing Ag⁺ and stabilizing the suspension. Since the driving force is not only chemical reduction, the optimized assay allows the determination of both "reducing" and "non-reducing" sugars with similar reactivity. The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption band with maximum wavelength centered at ≈ 430 nm (A₄₃₀) is used for the detection. Monosaccharides, disaccharides and polyols with different functional groups and structure have been investigated: D-(+)-glucose, D-(+)-galactose, D-(−)-fructose, sucrose, D-(+)-raffinose D-(+)-maltose, D-(+)-trehalose, D-mannitol, D-sorbitol, i-inositol, xylitol and D-(+)-xylose. The resulting AgNPs have been characterized by UV–Vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The reactivity of monomers and polyols was found higher than the disaccharides. The AgNPs-based method was applied to the determination of the sugars content in soft drinks (n = 6) and apple extracts (n = 5). Sugars content (expressed as glucose equivalents) determined by the proposed assay resulted comparable to results obtained by ion chromatography (R = 0.994). Reproducibility (RSD ≤ 9.4%) and recovery values (from 86.1% to 117.7%) in food matrices were satisfactory. Moreover, the assay is selective vs. potentially interfering compounds found in food. Considering the assay time (10 min), the low cost of reagents, limited volumes of sample (5–100 μL), no use of organic solvents and low waste generation, this assay appears very promising for sugars content determination.