Unequivocal Enantiomeric Identification and Analysis of 10 Chiral Pesticides in Fruit and Vegetables by QuEChERS Method Combined With Liquid Chromatography-Quadruple/Linear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry Determination.

ABSTRACT

In this research, 10 chiral pesticides in fruits and vegetables were simultaneously determined using chiral liquid chromatography triple quadrupole-linear ion trap hybrid mass spectrometry (LC-QqLIT). The QuEChERS method was applied for sample preparation, and an enhanced product ion (EPI) scan was used to acquire tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) spectra for the library search. Parameters including limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), linearity, relative standard deviation (RSD), and matrix effects were evaluated in five representative matrices (strawberry, leek, cowpea, tomato, and eggplant). Good linearity with coefficient of determination (r(2) ) ≥0.997 was obtained for all 20 enantiomers in these five matrices over the range from 1.0 to 250 µg L(-1) . All the recoveries at 5 and 50 µg kg(-1) (n = 5) ranged between 70% and 120% with RSD below 20%, indicating satisfactory precision. The LOQ for the enantiomers ranged between 0.05 and 1 µg kg(-1) . Based on the proposed method, 135 commonly consumed fruits and vegetables taken from markets in Guizhou province, China, were analyzed. Enantioselective degradation for the selected chiral pesticides was observed in most of the positive samples.