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Development of Optimal Digesting Conditions for Microplastic Analysis in Dried Seaweed Gracilaria fisheri
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Researchers compared enzymatic, oxidative, and combined digestion methods for extracting microplastics from dried seaweed, optimizing conditions for reliable identification and quantification. The combined method produced the best plastic recovery with the least damage to particles. Validated extraction methods for edible seaweeds are important because seaweed is increasingly consumed as food and could be a pathway for microplastic ingestion.
Currently, research on the accumulation of microplastics (MPs) in the marine food web is being highlighted. An accurate and reliable digestion method to extract and isolate MPs from complex food matrices has seldom been validated. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of MP isolation among enzymatic-, oxidative-, and the combination of two digestion methods on red seaweed, Gracilaria fisheri. The dried seaweed sample was digested using three different methods under various conditions using enzymes (cellulase and protease), 30% H2O2, and a combination of enzymes and 30% H2O2. The method possessing the best digestion efficiency and polymer recovery rate of MPs was selected, and its effect on spiked plastic polymer integrity was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy. As a result, the enzymatic method rendered moderate digestion efficiency (59.3-63.7%) and high polymer recovery rate (94.7-98.9%). The oxidative method using 30% H2O2 showed high digestion efficiency (93.0-96.3%) and high polymer recovery rate (>98%). The combination method was the most effective method in terms of digestion efficiency, polymer recovery rate, and expenditure of digestion time. The method also showed no chemical changes in the spiked plastic polymers (PE, PP, PS, PVC, and PET) after the digestion process. All the spiked plastic polymers were identifiable using Raman spectroscopy.
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