Development and Validation for Analysis of 144 Pesticides in Vegetables & Fruits by LC-QTOF/MS Technique

Method Development of Pesticide Residues by LC-QTOF/MS

Abstract

        In agricultural production, the widespread use of pesticides to prevent, eliminate, or repel pests has been greatly increased. As a result, vegetables and fruits may be contaminated with high tendency for the pesticide residue to remain in the food, creating a risk to humans. Therefore, there are many attempts to monitor this residue in food materials and products. In this study, liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF/MS) was selected for the quantitative detection of the simultaneous determination of 144 pesticides in vegetables and fruits by using the high resolution full-scan acquisition method. The extraction experiments were validated with QuEChERS method. The limit of detection and quantification of the validated method were 5 and 10 ng/g for the pesticides, respectively. In particular, each sample underwent ten analyses of fortified pesticides at three different concentration levels: 10, 50, and 100 ng/g. Consequently, the recoveries for most pesticides in particular matrices were within the criteria of 70−120%, with a relative standard deviation (RSD) lower than 20%. Furthermore, this method's linear range can be applied from 10 to 100 ng/g (R² > 0.99). Participation in the PT program to evaluate the method performance for external quality control showed satisfactory z-scores (|z| ≤ 2). Additionally, a significant number of routine samples were checked and were compared favorably with those from LC-MS/MS accredited methods. Based on these results, the method's validation to detect and quantify pesticides in vegetable and fruit matrices for regulatory proposals and health warnings was entirely successful.