A Rapid, Efficient, Reliable Method for Simultaneous Determination of Pesticide Residues in Green Chilli by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

This study describes a rapid, efficient and reliable method for the simultaneous determination of 42 pesticide residues in green chilli using gas chromatography single quadrupole mass spectrometry with selected ion monitoring (GC-SQ/MS-SIM) mode. QuEChERS (quick-easy-cheap-effectiverugged- safe) acetonitrile-based extraction technique was used prior to GC-MS analysis, followed by cleanup with primary-secondary amine (PSA). Linearity (r2 > 0.99) within 50-1000 μg/kg with negligible matrix interferences was achieved by method optimization. The percentage recovery evaluated at 50, 100 and 250 μg/kg level of spiked concentration was observed to range between 75-127% with RSD (< 9.1%) for the majority of analytes. The expanded uncertainty was measured below 48% for all target residues. The limit of detection and limit of quantification ranged between 1-63 μg/kg and 4-150 μg/kg, respectively. The developed method was observed to be specific, accurate, reproducible and user friendly for determining different pesticides in green chilli crops.