Aggregating-agent-assisted surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy–based detection of acrylamide in fried foods: A case study with potato chips

This study developed a simple, rapid, stable, and reliable technique for acrylamide (AAm) detection through surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) on an AgNPs substrate with an aggregating agent. Specifically, the agglomeration effects of five types of salt solutions (NaCl, KCl, MgCl2, Na2SO4, and MgSO4) were investigated at different concentrations and optimized using an orthogonal experiment. The optimal amounts of the aggregating agent, analytes, and AgNPs were 4, 4, and 12 μL, respectively. A linear relationship (peak area I1449 = 7.4197x + 5984.8, R2 = 0.9971) between the characteristic peak area and AAm concentration was established in the range of 10 to 500 μg/L, and the LOD was 2.5 μg/L. The recoveries and relative standard deviations in the analysis of potato chips samples were 94.67 %–117.50 % and 8.43 %–12.29 %, respectively. The results of the proposed method were consistent with those obtained by LC-MS/MS method. This study demonstrated that SERS has excellent potential for application in the qualitative and quantitative analyses of AAm in fried foods.