Fast ultrasound-assisted extraction followed by capillary gas chromatography combined with nitrogen-phosphorous selective detector for the trace determination of tebuconazole in garlic, soil and water samples

Abstract

A fast and an efficient ultrasound-assisted extraction technique using a lower density extraction solvent than water was developed for the trace-level determination of tebuconazole in garlic, soil and water samples followed by capillary gas chromatography combined with nitrogen-phosphorous selective detector (GC-NPD). In this approach, ultrasound radiation was applied to accelerate the emulsification of the ethyl acetate in aqueous samples to enhance the extraction efficiency of tebuconazole without requiring extra partitioning or cleaning, and the use of capillary GC-NPD was a more sensitive detection technique for organonitrogen pesticides. The experimental results indicate an excellent linear relationship between peak area and concentration obtained in the range 1-50 μg/kg or μg/L. The limit of detection (S/N, 3 ± 0.5) and limit of quantification (S/N, 7.5 ± 2.5) were obtained in the range 0.2-3 and 1-10 μg/kg or μg/L. Good spiked recoveries were achieved from ranges 95.55-101.26%, 96.28-99.33% and 95.04-105.15% in garlic, Nanivaliyal soil and Par River water, respectively, at levels 5 and 20 μg/kg or μg/L, and the method precision (% RSD) was ≤5%. Our results demonstrate that the proposed technique is a viable alternative for the determination of tebuconazole in complex samples.

Keywords: Capillary gas chromatography; Extraction efficiency; Low-density extraction solvent; Organonitrogen pesticides; Ultrasound-assisted extraction.