Ultrasound-assisted ionic liquid-dispersive liquid–liquid of curcumin in food samples microextraction and its spectrophotometric determination

Background: A rapid and new ultrasound-assisted ionic liquid-dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction method (UA-IL-DLLME) was presented for the determination of curcumin by spectrophotometry. Objective: To determine trace levels of curcumin in food samples by using green and low-cost method development. Methods: 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate was used to extract curcumin from sample solutions with the aid of sonication. Optimum extraction efficiency was determined by examining extraction solvents, pH, centrifugation speed, time, sonication period, and temperature. The influences of diverse ions on the recovery of curcumin were examined. The concentration of curcumin in the final solution was measured by spectrophotometer at 425 nm. Results: The enrichment factor achieved was 167. The LOD and the RSD were 0.51 μg/L and 4.3%, respectively. The presented method was performed to detect curcumin in 20 food samples. Conclusions: The presented UA-IL-DLLME method is simple, low in cost, environmentally friendly, rapid, and sensitive and requires minimal use of toxic organic solvents. Highlights: A microextraction method was applied to increase sensitivity. Higher enrichment factors and lower detection limits were observed. The proposed technique is easy, cost-effective, accurate, and precise.