Use of Gemini surfactant in a one-step ellagic acid assay by resonance light scattering technique

Ellagic acid (EA) reacted with Gemini zwitterionic surfactant, phosphodiesters quaternary ammonium salt (PQAS), and formed fine particles which produced strong enhancement in intensity of resonance light scattering (RLS). The effects of several factors on the RLS signal, such as pH, ionic strength, PQAS concentration and so on, were optimized. The relationship between enhanced RLS intensity and EA concentration was constructed. A novel and rapid method for the determination of EA was built. The linear range of this method was 0.016–4.0 μg mL−1 and the detection limit was 13.9 ng mL−1. Under the optimum conditions, the proposed method was applied to determine EA in body fluids with the results of quantitative recoveries between 98.4–101.4% in human serum samples and 99.1–102% in human urine samples. This method characterized by low limit detection is very sensitive and the cost is low, and constitutes a fast one-step procedure which requires only measuring the RLS intensities. The mechanism of the reaction was also studied. This investigation could contribute to the research on the delivery and release of bioactive molecules by Gemini surfactants.