Abstract:
Given the risk of unauthorized use of diamide pesticides in fruits and vegetables such as bananas and cowpeas, and the inadequate purification of complex matrices by existing detection methods, this study established a method for simultaneous detection of 10 diamide pesticide residues in banana and cowpea by multi-plug filtration cleanup (m-PFC) method combined with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Banana and cowpea samples were extracted with acetonitrile, and inorganic salts were added to the system to separate the extracts into organic and aqueous phases. The upper acetonitrile phase was purified by m-PFC column filled with anhydrous magnesium sulfate, PSA-Z, aminated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (NH
2-MWCNTs) and shortened-NH
2-MWCNTs (s-NH
2-MWCNTs) purification materials. The 10 target compounds were analyzed at multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode and were quantified by matrix-matched calibration curves. The results showed that within the range of 0.002 to 0.2 mg/L, the 10 diamide pesticides had good linearity, and the coefficient of determination (
R2) was all higher than 0.993. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.005 mg/kg, and the spiked recoveries were 71% to 119%. The relative standard deviation (RSD) ranges from 0.9% to 5.2% (
n = 6). The developed method requires no activation, equilibrium, or elution steps, and was proven to be effective in removing the matrix interferences such as pigments and sugars. This method is applicable for rapid screening of diamide pesticide residues in banana and cowpea matrices.