Green preparation of biomass-derived carbon dots: a platform for fluorescent detection of glutathione

1. Acevedo-León D, Monzó-Beltrán L, Gómez-Abril SÁ, Estañ-Capell N, Camarasa-Lillo N, Pérez-Ebri ML, Escandón-álvarez J, Alonso-Iglesias E, Santaolaria-Ayora ML, Carbonell-Moncho A, Ventura-Gayete J, Pla L, Martínez-Bisbal MC, Martínez-Máñez R, Bagán-Debón L, Viña-Almunia A, Martínez-Santamaría MA, Ruiz-Luque M, Alonso-Fernández J, Bañuls C, Sáez G (2021) The effectiveness of glutathione redox status as a possible tumor marker in colorectal cancer. Int J Mol Sci 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms2212618310.3390/ijms22126183 ↗

2. Chatterjee A, Gupta S (2018) The multifaceted role of glutathione S-transferases in cancer. Cancer Lett 433:33–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.canlet.2018.06.02810.1016/j.canlet.2018.06.028 ↗

3. Sun X, Guo F, Ye Q, Zhou J, Han J, Guo R (2023) Fluorescent Sensing of Glutathione and Related Bio-Applications, Biosensors (Basel). 13 https://doi.org/10.3390/bios1301001610.3390/bios13010016 ↗

4. Wu J, Qu L, Li Z, Zhao L, Sun Y, Yang R (2023) Light-responsive benzobisthiazole as oxidase mimic for rapid determination of glutathione in food and vegetable. Food Chem 427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.13667210.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136672 ↗

5. Liu Y, Fan L, Song J, Hou P, Wang H, Wang J, He C, Chen S (2025) A dual-channel fluorescent probe targeting lysosomes for differential detection of Cys/Hcy and GSH: Applications in food, pharmaceutical analysis and bioimaging, Spectrochim. Acta Mol Biomol Spectrosc 324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2024.12501110.1016/j.saa.2024.125011 ↗

6. Liu K, Xiao W, Zhang H, Wang Y, Fang B, Zhu B (2024) Glutathione detection in water and milk using a new probe DCYP based on benzopyranonitrile, Spectrochim. Acta Mol Biomol Spectrosc 312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2024.12408510.1016/j.saa.2024.124085 ↗

7. Gong MM, Dai CY, Severance S, Hwang CC, Fang BK, Lin HB, Huang CH, Ong CW, Wang JJ, Lee PL, Wang TP (2020) A bioorthogonally synthesized and disulfide-containing fluorescence turn-on chemical probe for measurements of butyrylcholinesterase activity and inhibition in the presence of physiological glutathione. Catalysts 10:1–18. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal1010116910.3390/catal10101169 ↗

8. Song X, Wen X, Huang Y, Fan Z (2025) Bioinspired amino acid-functionalized carbon dots nanozymes with enhanced peroxidase-like activity for sensitive detection of GSH in food. Food Chem 491. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.14522410.1016/j.foodchem.2025.145224 ↗

9. Piechocka J, Wyszczelska-Rokiel M, Głowacki R (2023) Simultaneous determination of 2-(3-hydroxy-5-phosphonooxymethyl-2-methyl-4-pyridyl)-1,3-thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid and main plasma aminothiols by HPLC–UV based method. Sci Rep 13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-36548-910.1038/s41598-023-36548-9 ↗

10. Wang Y, Jiang L, Chu L, Liu W, Wu S, Wu Y, He X, Wang K (2017) Electrochemical detection of glutathione by using thymine-rich DNA-gated switch functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Biosens Bioelectron 87:459–465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2016.08.10210.1016/j.bios.2016.08.102 ↗

11. Wang Y, Li Y, Cao J, Yang X, Huang J, Huang M, Gu S (2024) Research Progress of Fluorescent Probes for Detection of Glutathione (GSH): Fluorophore, Photophysical Properties, Biological Applications. Molecules 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules2918433310.3390/molecules29184333 ↗

12. Zhang J, Hu X, Yuan J, Xing C, Li G (2026) A dual-response NIR fluorescent probe for monitoring of cooking oil degradation and adulteration. Food Control 179:111563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2025.11156310.1016/j.foodcont.2025.111563 ↗

13. Parashar AK, Verma KK, Kumar R, Arora V (2023) Review of Carbon Dots and their Pharmaceutical and Biomedi-cal Applications, Recent Adv. Drug Deliv Formul 17:183–192. https://doi.org/10.2174/012667387823742323091907004910.2174/0126673878237423230919070049 ↗

14. Liu Y, Zhang L, Cai H, Qu X, Chang J, Waterhouse GIN, Lu S (2024) Biomass-derived carbon dots with pharmacological activity for biomedicine: Recent advances and future perspectives. Sci Bull (Beijing) 69:3127–3149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2024.08.01110.1016/j.scib.2024.08.011 ↗

15. Chelladurai D, Alaguthevar R, Murugesan B, Subburamu K, Khan A, Rhim J-W (2024) Carbon quantum dots: Progress toward food safety and sustainability. Food Biosci 61:105016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbio.2024.10501610.1016/j.fbio.2024.105016 ↗

16. Yao Y, Zhou W, Cai K, Wen J, Zhang X (2024) Advances in the study of the biological activity of polysaccharide-based carbon dots: A review. Int J Biol Macromol 281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.13577410.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.135774 ↗

17. Han Y, Hou X, Li Y, Yang X, Sun X, Bian X, Sun N, Lv Y, Ding L, Li Z (2025) A ratiometric fluorescent probe for a smartphone-based dual-emission carbon dot fluorescence sensor for the rapid detection of 5-HIAA. Microchem J 212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2025.11344810.1016/j.microc.2025.113448 ↗

18. Lu C, Zou D, Jia Y, Lu Y, Wang H, He Y (2026) A dual-signal sensing platform based on NCl-CQDs/DCIP fluorescence and colorimetry for the rapid detection of AA. Opt Mater (Amst) 169:117647. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optmat.2025.11764710.1016/j.optmat.2025.117647 ↗

19. Snari RM, Sayqal A, Alanazi KD, Alorabi AQ, Aljuhani E, Alaysuy O, Abumelha HM, El-Metwaly NM (2024) Green composite colorimetric and Turn-on fluorescent material for the detection of Al3 + ion in blood serum and herbal tea. J Photochem Photobiol Chem 451:115539. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2024.11553910.1016/j.jphotochem.2024.115539 ↗

20. Mujthaba Aatif A, Ramasamy SK, Bhaskar R, Abdul Majeed S, Sahul Hameed AS, Zaheer Ahmed S, Ashok Kumar SK (2026) Pyridine-2,6-dicarbohydrazide Schiff base: a sensitive fluorescent ‘turn-on’’ probe for Th4 + ions and potential application in Zebrafish imaging’. J Photochem Photobiol Chem 473:116896. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2025.11689610.1016/j.jphotochem.2025.116896 ↗

21. Long M, Wu S (2025) Bifunctional exploration of Corydalis-derived blue fluorescent carbon dots: From high-sensitivity chlortetracycline detection to flexible fluorescent membranes. J Photochem Photobiol Chem 116909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2025.11690910.1016/j.jphotochem.2025.116909 ↗

22. Luo K, Li W, Luo X, Kang X, Wen Y (2024) Solvent-free pyrolysis synthesis of solid-state fluorescent carbon dots: Optical properties and latent fingerprint imaging. Diam Relat Mater 142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diamond.2024.11083710.1016/j.diamond.2024.110837 ↗

23. Huang H, Zhou G, Meng Z, Li T, Sun L, Wang Z, Yang Y (2026) A novel flavonol-based self-assembled sensor with high sensitivity to biogenic amines and application in detection of fish and prawn freshness. Food Control 180:111645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2025.11164510.1016/j.foodcont.2025.111645 ↗

24. Wang C, Ma Z, Yao Z, Li P, Zhang J, Zhang W, Zhao X, Shi H (2025) High-sensitivity detection of tetracycline using phosphorus-doped carbon quantum dots prepared by pyrolysis method as fluorescent probes. Phys Scr 100. https://doi.org/10.1088/1402-4896/adc85610.1088/1402-4896/adc856 ↗

25. Jian K, Men W, Miao C, Du Y, Yang H, Zhao X (2025) Fe-doped carbon dots with enhanced fluorescence: Facilitating Cu2 + detection and urea electro-oxidation. Talanta 292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2025.12794210.1016/j.talanta.2025.127942 ↗

26. Chen Y, Wang Q, Liu L, Tian F (2018) Fluorescence quenching and measurement of glutathione in fresh vegetables. J Food Meas Charact 12:221–227. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11694-017-9633-z10.1007/s11694-017-9633-z ↗

27. He J, Yan F, Kong D, Ye Q, Zhou X, Chen L (2016) Fluorescent Probes for Glutathione Detection. Curr Org Chem 20:2718–2734. https://doi.org/10.2174/138527282066616060212535210.2174/1385272820666160602125352 ↗

28. Mir TulG, Shukla S, Malik AQ, Singh J, Kumar D (2023) Microwave-assisted synthesis of N-doped carbon quantum dots for detection of methyl orange in saffron. Chem Pap 77:3641–3649. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-023-02726-210.1007/s11696-023-02726-2 ↗

29. Dong H, Chen W, Xu K, Zheng L, Wei B, Liu R, Yang J, Wang T, Zhou Y, Zhang Y, Xu M (2025) High Selectivity Fluorescence and Electrochemical Dual-Mode Detection of Glutathione in the Serum of Parkinson’s Disease Model Mice and Humans. Anal Chem 97:1318–1328. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c0562710.1021/acs.analchem.4c05627 ↗

30. Zhang J, Li R, Cao K, Zhang T, Xiao H, Wang L (2025) Gold and platinum bimetallic nanoparticles with double enzyme-like properties for the colorimetric detection of glutathione. J Mol Struct 1340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molstruc.2025.14252110.1016/j.molstruc.2025.142521 ↗

31. Zhang S, Liu Y, Qiao J, Qi L (2025) UiO-smart polymer@AuNPs composites with improved catalytic performance for colorimetric detection of glutathione. Inorg Chem Commun 182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inoche.2025.11550610.1016/j.inoche.2025.115506 ↗

32. Squellerio I, Caruso D, Porro B, Veglia F, Tremoli E, Cavalca V (2012) Direct glutathione quantification in human blood by LC-MS/MS: Comparison with HPLC with electrochemical detection. J Pharm Biomed Anal 71:111–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2012.08.01310.1016/j.jpba.2012.08.013 ↗

33. Wang X, Zhang Y, Jin Y, Wang S, Zhang Z, Zhou T, Zhang G, Wang F (2023) An Off-Off fluorescence sensor based on ZnS quantum dots for detection of glutathione. J Photochem Photobiol Chem 435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2022.11426410.1016/j.jphotochem.2022.114264 ↗

34. Zhao T, Chen H, Song Z, Hou Y, Xu Y, Wang Q, Liu Q (2025) Red emitting carbon dots for detection of endogenous glutathione with fluorescence enhancement and cell imaging. Spectrochim Acta Mol Biomol Spectrosc 333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2025.12590110.1016/j.saa.2025.125901 ↗