In this paper, the electrochemical behavior of rutin on a gold nanoparticles/ethylenediamine/multi-wall carbon nanotubes modified glassy carbon electrode (AuNPs/en/MWNTs/GCE) was investigated and the electrochemical parameters of rutin were calculated. Rutin effectively accumulated on the AuNPs/en/MWNTs/GCE and caused a pair of redox peaks at around 487 mV and 432 mV (vs. SCE) in 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution (pH 3.5). Under optimized conditions, the anodic peak current was linear to the rutin concentration in the range of 4.8 x 10(-8) M-9.6 x 10(-7) M. The regression equation was: i(pa) = 2.3728C(rutin)-0.1782 (i(pa): 10(-5) A. C-rutin: mu M, r = 0.9973). The detection limit of 3.2 x 10(-8) M was obtained. The proposed method was successfully used to the determination of rutin content in tablet samples with satisfactory results. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.