A Facile Electrochemical Sensor Labeled by Ferrocenoyl Cysteine Conjugate for the Detection of Nitrite in Pickle Juice

Simple and facile electrochemical sensors for nitrite detection were fabricated by directly depositing ferrocenoyl cysteine conjugates Fc[CO-Cys(Trt)-OMe](2) [Fc(Cys)(2)] or Fc[CO-Glu-Cys-Gly-OH] [Fc-ECG] on screen-printed electrodes (SPEs). The modified carbon electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Results indicated that Fc-ECG/SPE sensor showed enhanced current response and a lower overpotential than Fc(Cys)(2)/SPE sensor for nitrite detection. Optimal operating conditions were estimated for nitrite detection by DPV. The concentration of nitrite showed a good linear relationship with the current response in the range of 1.0–50 μmol·L(−1) and with 0.3 μmol·L(−1) as the concentration for limit of detection. There were no interferences from most common ions. The development of this electrochemical sensor was used for nitrite detection in pickled juice with a R.S.D. lower than 2.1% and average recovery lower than 101.5%, which indicated that disposable electrochemical sensor system can be applied for rapid and precise nitrite detection in foods.