A Smartphone-Enabled Colorimetric Microneedle Sensing Platform for Rapid Detection of Ascorbic Acid in Fruits

Achieving rapid extraction and detection of analytical solutions from plant tissues to circumvent cumbersome procedures and reduce the dependence on detection instruments remains a challenge. Herein, a colorimetric microneedle integrated platform was developed for the rapid extraction and detection of plant fluids for testing purposes. Colorimetric microneedle patches (CMPs) offer a swift and effective method to swiftly extract and detect ascorbic acid (AA) within 10 min from various fruit crops like mango, nectarine, apple, pear, and kiwifruit, facilitated by a smartphone application. CMPs are constructed for the rapid and sensitive analysis of AA with good linearity amid the range 0.05-25 μM and a low limit of detection of 30 nM. The novel CMPs demonstrate significant potential as a rapid detection platform for AA in plants. CMPs offer significant advantages over traditional ultraviolet spectrophotometry, such as simplified operational procedures and accelerated extraction and detection processes. This establishes robust groundwork for conducting in situ extraction and molecular detection of diverse crops across a spectrum of application scenarios.