Detection of residual gibberellic acid (GA3) in vegetables and fruits by the SPE-HPLC method

A quick,accurate method to detect residual gibberellic acid (GA3) in fruits and vegetables by SPE-HPLC technique is established.GA3 was extracted by ultrasonic with acetone-water extractant(5 ∶4,V/V);purified by discoloration of petroleum ether,extraction of ethyl acetate,and treatment of HyperSep C18 SPE column (column purification:1 mL methanol;column activator:1 mL water;sample absorption:1mL 10% methanol;eluent:5 mL neutral 40% methanol); and finally detected by HPLC method,while its content was calculated by external standard method.The Results showed the method performed well within the linear range between 0.05 mg/L and 10 mg/L (r =0.999 7),and the limit of detection was 0.012 mg/kg.The conducted spot check for 18 kinds of samples using the method showed that,the recovery rate was between 90.58% and 99.35% at the fortifed level of 1 mg/kg,while the RSD was between 1.25% and 8.67%,which indicated that the method was suitable for GA3 detection.