A simple, sensitive, and precise room-temperature phosphorescence method was developed for the determination of melamine in dairy products using l-cysteine-capped Mn-doped zinc sulfide (ZnS) quantum dots as a probe. This method is based on the quenching of the phosphorescence signal of quantum dots by the interaction with melamine. Under optimum conditions, phosphorescence intensity was quenched by various concentrations of melamine in a linear range from 50 to 500ng/mL, with a detection limit of 5.95ng/mL in 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.4). The relative standard deviation for 5 replicate measurements was 0.15%. The developed method was applied to dairy products to determine melamine concentrations; recovery values ranged from 96.3 to 104.7%
