Determination of 41 pesticides in maize meal by QuEChERS and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Based on QuEChERS and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS), a method for the simultaneous detection of 41 pesticide residues in maize meal was established. Maize meal samples were extracted with acetonitrile and analysed by UPLC-MS/MS after treated with QuEChERS approach. Good linearity was observed when the mass concentration of 41 pesticides ranged between 0.5 and 100 μg/L, with all of the determination coefficients higher than 0.99. Limit of quantitations (LOQs) of the pesticides ranged from 0.48 to 0.85 μg/kg. At the fortified levels of 0.01, 0.1, and 1 mg/kg, average recoveries of the 41 pesticides ranged between 74% and 110%, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 1.5% to 12% (n = 5). This new method is efficient, fast, sensitive and accurate, which is suitable for the simultaneous detection of multiple pesticides in maize meal.