Microfluidic paper-based analytical device for determination of sucrose in sugarcane juice using Benedict’s reagent

This work presents a microfluidic paper-based analytical device (μPAD) for the determination of sucrose using the Benedict’s test. An asymmetric dumbbell-shaped hydrophobic barrier was produced by rubber stamping the barrier pattern onto a laboratory filter paper. Hydrochloric acid and solution containing sucrose were successively deposited onto the sample reservoir of the μPAD attached to a glass slide. The device was placed in a plastic bag and dipped into boiling water for accelerating the hydrolysis of sucrose into the reducing sugars. Then the Benedict’s reagent was added at the narrow straight channel connecting the two circular zones of the μPAD, which was replaced in the plastic bag and heated again for reduction of Cu(II) by the reducing sugars. Precipitate of brick-red copper(I) oxide was formed. The image of the μPAD was recorded by a smartphone. The ratio of the red to blue intensities gave linear correlation with the concentration of sucrose in the range of 0.5–10% w/v. The relative standard deviation of the measurement was less than 5% for 2 and 4% w/v sucrose ( n = 10), with limit of determination, calculated using standard deviation of regression divided by slope of calibration, of 0.26% w/v sucrose. The method was successfully validated using the dinitrosalicylic acid method for sucrose measurement. Percent recoveries of sucrose were evaluated using ten sugarcane samples. The recoveries were in the range of 89 to 101%, demonstrating that there were no significant sample matrix effects on the quantification.