An easy-to-use platform for colorimetric determination of dextran: A potential application for the sugar industry

Dextran is one of the most undesirable compounds in the sugar production industry since it can cause several deleterious problems in the presence of dextran. This work develops a novel material platform for dextran determination for the first time by improving the traditional phenol-sulfuric acid assay to a ready-to-use material system. The detection procedure is enhanced for proper on-site analysis, naked-eye detection, and smartphone-based detection.