All India Network Project on Pesticide Residues, PJTS Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500030, Telangana State, India
Pesticide residues analysis in fruits and fresh vegetables is a challenge for food safety as the gap between pesticide sprays and harvests is very less in vegetables. A multi residue method was developed for qualitative and quantitative analysis of 64 pesticides (insecticides, fungicides and herbicides) using QuEChERS extraction method and GC-MS/MS (Triple Quadrupole) for analysis. Eight different concentrations of certified reference materials from 0.05 ppm to 0.30 ppm were injected in GC-MS/MS with MRM method, in six replications, and R2 ranged from 0.990–0.999 with RSD of 0.55 to 11.24. The sample preparation approach is through adoption of QuEChERS method, untreated control tomato samples were fortified with mixture of pesticides at 0.05, 0.25, 0.5 mg/kg, each is five replications, and the recovery of pesticides is in the range of 80–95%, and hence method can be used for qualitative and quantitative analysis of 64 pesticides in/on tomato for monitoring studies.
The sample preparation and analytical method validated in this study for multiple pesticide residues analysis in Tomato is useful for qualitative and quantitative analysis of residues at 0.05 ppm level for 64 pesticides
Method validation, pesticide residues, tomato, GC-MS/MS (TQD)
