Understanding the working of magnetic COFs in the extraction and determination of target contaminants for food safety.

Rising food safety concerns necessitate sensitive, rapid, and reliable analytical methods for contaminant detection. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs), especially magnetic COF composites, have emerged as powerful sorbents for sample preparation due to their tunable porosity, functional diversity, and magnetic recoverability. This review summarizes recent advances in COF-based magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) applied to food matrices for the enrichment and detection of diverse contaminants, including mycotoxins, sulfonamides, aromatic hydrocarbons, phenolic compounds, pesticides, and bisphenols. Key factors influencing performance include framework engineering, such as inclusion of β-cyclodextrin, carbon nanotubes, polydopamine, MIL-88(Fe), magnetic supports (CoFeO, TiC, FeO), and synergistic interactions (π-π stacking, hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic/polar, and electrostatic interactions). These multifunctional composites demonstrate high selectivity, low detection limits, strong reproducibility, and reusability. Challenges remain in scaling up, addressing matrix effects, and ensuring cost-effective fabrication. The review concludes by proposing design strategies for next-generation COF-MSPE sorbents tailored to food safety analysis and industrial applications.