A Molecularly Imprinted Electrochemical Sensor Based on Fc-MWCNTs for the Rapid Detection of Antler Marker-Hyp

Antler, as one of the monarchical herbs in Ginseng and antler solidifying and reducing pills, has the benefits of increasing kidney yang, nourishing essence and blood, and strengthening tendons and bones. In the face of the many different types of antler, how to screen out a representative ingredient that represents the overall quality of the herb as much as possible from the comprehensive evaluation of authenticity, quality, and therapeutic efficacy and recognize its rapid detection has become the key to the initial rapid evaluation of the quality of antler bulk medicinal materials. In recent years, hydroxyproline (Hyp) has been recognized as one of the index components of antler quality evaluation. Achieving its qualitative and quantitative rapid inspection is crucial for the quality assurance of antler bulk medicinal materials and the sustainable development of antler-related industries. Currently, the methods for determining Hyp are costly, time-consuming, and inefficient. As a result, there is a demand for rapid, simple, low cost, and dependable Hyp detection solutions. Molecularly imprinted polymer membranes (MIPs) are prime examples of biomimetic recognition materials. It has found significant application in the field of selective chemical sensing. In this study, we prepared MIPs by self-assembly on ferrocene (Fc)-multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Thus, we developed a molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor for highly selective, sensitive, and rapid detection of the indicator components of antler quality evaluation - Hyp. The sensor had a detection limit of 9.0 × 10 −3 μg ml within a range of 1.0 × 10 −2 ∼ 1.0 × 10 3 μg ml −1 (S/N = 3). Using the sensor in actual samples resulted in recoveries ranging from 97.45 ∼ 107.70%, with RSD of 0.53 ∼ 1.28%. This work provides a novel approach for the initial screening evaluation of the quality of Chinese medicinal materials as well as a practical and effective way to quickly assess the quality of animal medicinal materials.