Monitoring of Hypochlorite Level in Fruits, Vegetables, and Dairy Products: A BODIPY-Based Fluorescent Probe for the Rapid and Highly Selective Detection of Hypochlorite

Hypochlorite/hypochlorous acid (ClO-/HOCl), amongthe diverse reactive oxygen species, plays a vital role in variousbiological processes. Besides, ClO- is widely knownas a sanitizer for fruits, vegetables, and fresh-cut produce, killingbacteria and pathogens. However, excessive level of ClO- can lead to the oxidation of biomolecules such as DNA, RNA, andproteins, threatening vital organs. Therefore, reliable and effectivemethods are of utmost importance to monitor trace amounts of ClO-. In this work, a novel BODIPY-based fluorescent probebearing thiophene and a malononitrile moiety (BOD-CN) was designed and constructed to efficiently detect ClO-, which exhibited distinct features such as excellent selectivity,sensitivity (LOD = 83.3 nM), and rapid response (<30 s). Importantly,the probe successfully detected ClO- in variousspiked water, milk, vegetable, and fruit samples. In all, BOD-CN offers a clearly promising approach to describe the quality of ClO--added dairy products, water, fresh vegetables, andfruits.