Experimental design in pesticide extraction methods: A review.

The sample extraction process is considered as the essential step in the pesticide residue analysis, as it provides the base for the detection of the pesticides in trace level. Various factors need to be optimized during the extraction of pesticides due to the complexity of the matrix which is time-consuming and tedious. Therefore, the use of experimental design in the optimization process proves to be effective with minimum experiments and cost. This paper is aimed to overview the experimental designs that are frequently used for screening (full factorial, fractional factorial, Plackett-Burman Design) and optimizing (central composite design, Box-Behnken design, Taguchi design, Doehlert design, D-optimal design) the most influential factors to provide a sequential understanding of the linear and complex interactions in the pesticide extraction methods. Further, a systematic approach has been discussed about the use of experimental designs in pesticide extraction and also the softwares used for application-oriented readers.