Multi-residue determination of pesticides in fruit-based soft drinks by fast liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Talanta. 2010 Jun 15;81(4-5):1310-21. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2010.02.026. Epub 2010 Feb 13.

Abstract

This work reports a rapid and reliable method for the determination of 33 multi-class pesticides in fruit-based soft drinks. The proposed method consists of a sample treatment step based on solid-phase extraction using hydrophilic-lipophilic balanced polymer-based reverse-phase SPE cartridges, followed by identification and quantitation of the target pesticides by rapid resolution liquid chromatography using a short C(18) column (4.6mm x 50mm) with 1.8microm particle size and mass spectrometric detection using electrospray time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOFMS). The identification and confirmation of the compounds were based on retention time matching along with the accurate mass measurements of the protonated molecules ([M+H](+)) and their main fragment ions. Fruit-based soft drinks spiked at different fortification levels (10 and 50microgL(-1)) yielded average recoveries in the range 66-124% with RSD (%) below 14% (n=6). The obtained limits of quantitation varied in the range 0.02-2microgL(-1). The proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of 14 market-purchased fruit-based soft drinks samples collected in some European countries, showing its potential applicability and revealing the presence of some of the target species in the microgL(-1) range.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Carbonated Beverages / analysis*
  • Chemistry Techniques, Analytical*
  • Chromatography, Liquid / methods*
  • Food Analysis / methods*
  • Food Contamination*
  • Fruit
  • Ions
  • Mass Spectrometry / methods*
  • Pesticide Residues / analysis*
  • Pesticides / analysis*
  • Protons
  • Solvents / chemistry

Substances

  • Ions
  • Pesticide Residues
  • Pesticides
  • Protons
  • Solvents