Experimental design optimization of RP-HPLC method for simultaneous estimation of metsulfuron-methyl, chlorantraniliprole and chlorimuron-ethyl residues in stems of Oryza sativa

Abstract

Abstract Background The study aims to develop a chemometrics optimized D-optimal mixture design approach assisted RP- HPLC method for the determination of pesticide residues of metsulfuron-methyl, chlorantraniliprole, and chlorimuron-ethyl in the stems of Oryza sativa. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a C18 column using a mobile phase consisting of a pH 3.5 phosphate buffer and acetonitrile in the ratio 85:15. Results The optimized HPLC method gave a sharp resolution of metsulfuron-methyl, chlorantraniliprole and chlorimuron-ethyl at a retention time of 2.599 min, 3.805 min and 4.661 min receptively. Linearity was observed in the range 100‒500 µg/mL for metsulfuron-methyl (r2 = 0.999), 4‒20 µg/mL for chlorantraniliprole (r2 = 0.999) and 100‒500 µg/mL for chlorimuron-ethyl (r2 = 0.999). The developed method was validated as per ICH guidelines. Conclusion The proposed chemometrics optimized RP-HPLC method was found to be successful in the resolution of pesticide residues in the stems of O. sativa. The developed method can be applied to routine quantification of metsulfuron-methyl, chlorantraniliprole and chlorimuron-ethyl.