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Recent developments in the detection of melamine

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Abstract

In recent years, there were two reported outbreaks of food borne illness associated with melamine. The presence of melamine and its related compounds in milk, feed, and other foods has resulted in the need for reliable methods for the detection and accurate quantification of this class of contaminants. The sample pretreatment for melamine in a complex matrix usually involves a liquid extraction by a polar solvent, followed by a further clean-up with solid phase extraction. Analyses of melamine and related compounds are commonly carried out by liquid or gas chromatographic methods conjugated with mass spectrometry. Other innovative screening methods, which use antibodies, molecularly imprinted polymers, capillary electrophoresis, and gold nanoparticles, are also used to develop assays and biosensors to melamine. However, many of these methods have been hindered by matrix effects, the solubility of melamine-cyanuric acid complex, and background contamination. This article reviews recent developments for detecting melamine and discusses future directions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing, 210014, China

    Yuan Liu, Qiang Zhang, Jiang-rong Shi & Xian-jin Liu

  2. Michigan State Universities, East Lansing, 48824-1212, USA

    Ewen E. D. Todd

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  1. Yuan Liu
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Correspondence to Yuan Liu.

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Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30871658) and the “948” Project of the Ministry of Agriculture of China (Nos. 2011-Z46 and 2011-G5-7)

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Liu, Y., Todd, E.E.D., Zhang, Q. et al. Recent developments in the detection of melamine. J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. B 13, 525–532 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B1100389

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