Multiresidue Analysis of 50 Pesticides in Grape, Pomegranate, and Mango by Gas Chromatography−Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry

A selective and sensitive multiresidue analysis method is reported for simultaneous determination of 50 pesticides of different chemical classes in three commercially important fruits of different nature viz. grape, pomegranate, and mango. The sample preparation method involves extraction of a 10 g sample with 10 mL of ethyl acetate; cleanup by dispersive solid phase extraction with primary secondary amine (PSA, 25 mg) for grape and PSA + graphitized carbon black (25 + 5 mg) for pomegranate and mango; and determination by gas chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry through multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). Sample preparation under acidified (pH 4) and cold (<4 degrees C) conditions, use of PTV-large volume injection (20 microL) through multibaffled liner and chromatographic separation on a short 10 m VF-5MS capillary column gave a satisfactory response for all of the analytes including relatively unstable compounds such as captan, captafol, folpet, endrine, and iprodione within 31.8 min. The limit of quantification (LOQ) of most of the compounds was <or=10 ng g(-1) except for captan, captafol, and folpet, where the LOQ was <or=20 ng g(-1). For each analyte, the unique and most abundant MRM was selected for quantification, and the next most abundant for confirmation, with their abundance ratio being used for unambiguous identification of any detected pesticide in samples within 20% tolerance range at the LOQ level. Use of matrix-matched standards could minimize the matrix effect, which was lowest in grape, followed by pomegranate and mango. Recoveries ranged within 70-120% at 10, 20, and 50 ng g(-1) in all three matrixes with associated relative standard deviations <20% (n = 6). The method could be successfully applied to the screening of 100 farm samples for compliance to EU maximum residue limits.