Abstract
Food is essential for the well-being of human. With its plentiful nutrients, it plays an indispensable role in growth of human body, renewal of cells, repair of tissue and physiological function. For the past few years, food safety issues have always caused panic in the society. Thus the examination works of food have been widely noticed. Because specific components in the food is an important indicator of food safety issues, by detecting the content of the indicator components in the food, we can not only realize the authenticity of food, but also we can assess the freshness of food. Recently, Analytical Chemists are committed to develop an analytical platform with high-throughput analysis, easy-operation and high-adaptable, in order to fulfill the needs of modern food analysis. Furthermore, the idea of on-site or even home determinations start to stand out and contribute to parts of analytical technologies developing towards miniaturization and automation. In this study, based on the concept of multi-layer microfluidic devices, we developed two low-cost, high-adaptable and rapid-analysis platforms. In the first work, the non-functionalized high-throughput solid-phase extraction microchip was fabricated through the use of poly(methyl methacrylate). Then, a programmable valves and manifolds were used to interface the developed microchip and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) instrumentation to fully automate the hyphenated system. Based on the experimental results, we have successfully utilized the contents of different trace metals as an indicator for distinguishing age of whisky. In second work, we further applied the concept of microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) to fabricate simpler and cheaper microfluidic device. Only by using a piece of paper and the solid-ink printer, we can easily complete the fabrication of μPADs. By way of origami artistry and special design of the device, we achieved a complicated fabrication process and solves the problem of determining low concentration analytes in the use of μPADs. Finally, by coupling to colorimetric method and the detection of digital single-lens reflex camera, we successfully built up a platform for on-site monitoring of honey freshness.