Assessment of Two Extraction Methods LLE and QUEChERS to Determine Pesticides Residues in Vegetables by Gas Chromatography

Abstract

Abstract The extraction of pesticides is a critical and urgent issue in the preparation for and determination of pesticide residues. The lack of a quick, easy, and successful extraction process is the most critical and challenging problem, even if diagnostic tools have improved and pesticide residues have been better understood. This study contrasted the QuEChERS method, which uses gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector, with the LLE method, which uses liquid-liquid extraction, in order to extract pyridaben from cucumbers and spiromesifen from tomatoes. The GC-FID device was employed to ascertain the spiromesifen LOD and LOQ, which were 0.002 μg mL-1 and 0.006 g mL-1, respectively, according to the findings from the QuEChERS technique (95.6% recovery, RSD 0.28%-1.95%) and the LLE method (85.4% recovery, RSD 0.25%-6.9%). When testing the cucumber sample for pyridaben, the LLE method yielded an RSD of 0.12-0.21 percent, while the QuEChERS method yielded 95.22 percent. Pyridaben has limits of detection (LOD) of 0.001 μg mL-1 and quantification (LOQ) of 0.003 μg mL-1. A higher recovery level in both samples suggests that the QuEChERS method may be preferable to the LLE for extracting spiromesifen from tomatoes and pyridaben from cucumbers, according to the data. This was followed by a comparison of the two sets of results using a paired t-test with a 95% confidence level. Thus, the two methods are statistically distinct at the 95% confidence level. Among the most environmentally safe and sustainable solutions in this field, the QuEChERS method stands out for its quick sample preparation, affordability, ease of use, effectiveness, and absence of toxic chemicals and solvents.