Development of a Low-Cost Optical Sensor for Cupric Reducing Antioxidant Capacity Measurement of Food Extracts

A low-cost optical sensor using an immobilized chromogenic redox reagent was devised for measuring the total antioxidant level in a liquid sample without requiring sample pretreatment. The reagent, copper(II)−neocuproine (Cu(II)−Nc) complex, was immobilized onto a cation-exchanger film of Nafion, and the absorbance changes associated with the formation of the highly colored Cu(I)−Nc chelate as a result of reaction with antioxidants was measured at 450 nm. The sensor gave a linear response over a wide concentration range of standard antioxidant compounds. The trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) values of various antioxidants reported in this work using the optical sensor-based “cupric reducing antioxidant capacity” (CUPRAC) assay were comparable to those of the standard solution-based CUPRAC assay, showing that the immobilized Cu(II)−Nc reagent retained its reactivity toward antioxidants. Common food ingredients like oxalate, citrate, fruit acids, and reducing sugars did not interfere with the proposed sensing method. This assay was validated through linearity, additivity, precision, and recovery, demonstrating that the assay is reliable and robust. The developed optical sensor was used to screen total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of some commercial fruit juices without preliminary treatment and showed a promising potential for the preparation of antioxidant inventories of a wide range of food plants.