Detection of luteolin in food using a novel electrochemical sensor based on cobalt-doped microporous/mesoporous carbon encapsulated peanut-like FeOx composite

Luteolin (Lu) is a dietary flavonoid that has attracted much attention due to its multiple health benefis effects. Herein, an ultrasensitive electrochemical sensor for Lu was constracted based on cobalt-doped microporous/mesoporous carbon (MMC) encapsulated peanut-like Fe2O3 composite. The FeOx-Co-MMC composite was obtained by pyrolyzing a precursor named Fe2O3-Co-microporous/mesoporous dopamine (Fe2O3-Co-MMPDA) which was synthesized by a soft template method. Under optimized conditions, the sensor exhibited good detection of Lu with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.031 nM and a wide linear range from 0.05 to 1000 nM in detecting Lu. It also demonstrated good reproducibility (RSD = 3.16%), stability (RSD = 2.34%), and anti-interference properties. The sensor successfully detected Lu in real food samples such as honeysuckle with recoveries ranging from 96.1% to 104.8% (RSD <3%, n = 3). The present study provides an alternative method for Lu detection in food.