Fluoride Binding Potential of Selected Phytochemicals: A Pilot Study.

Fluoride (F - ) contamination in drinking water is a major global concern. According to several studies, India and China are the most affected by the presence of excess F - . Long-time exposure to F - concentrations above 1.5 ppm can lead to hard and soft tissue fluorosis (F - toxicity). There are no effective cure or treatment for fluorosis and the condition is almost irreversible. Considering water to be the prime media through which F - reaches humans, maintaining optimal F - levels in water remains the only possible remedy. F - endemic areas have adapted several conventional defluoridation techniques to resolve the issue. Among these, adsorption with plant compounds is widely used for F - removal. Studies have shown that plant metabolites can ameliorate the toxic effects of F - . Based on this, we attempt to elucidate the potential binding and electrochemical bio-sensing properties of selected phytochemicals towards F - . The focus of the present work is to evaluate the interactions of phytochemicals with F - ; for which, the binding studies of phytochemicals with F - have been elaborated by UV-visible spectroscopy and emission techniques. Benesi-Hildebrand's (BH) plot was used to calculate the binding constant (CUR - 34.9 × 10 3 (M -1 ), QUER - 13 × 10 3 (M -1 ), ESC -6.3 × 10 3 (M -1 ), FIS - 5.36 × 10 3 (M -1 ) and PCA -1.5 × 10 3 (M -1 ), and detection limit (CUR - 1.54 × 10 -7  M, QUER - 0.156 × 10 -6 M, ESC - 0.221 × 10 -6 M, FIS - 0.175 × 10 -6 M, and PCA - 5.8 × 10 -6  M) for the F - :phytochemical mixtures. Further, the binding characteristics were confirmed using 1 H-NMR titration experiments. Our findings highlight the potential of phytochemicals as effective binding agents for F - , thereby reducing its bioavailability.