Development and validation of an analytical method for the determination of lepimectin residues by HPLC-PDA

A new, rapid, and simple analytical method was developed and validated using high performance liquid chromatograph-photodiode array detector (HPLC-PAD) for the determination of lepimectin residues in agricultural commodities. The lepimectin residues in samples were extracted with methanol, partitioned with dichloromethane, and then purified with glass column filled with subsequently to aminopropyl (NH2) solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridge. The purified samples were detected using HPLC-PAD. Correlation coefficient (R-2) of both lepimectin A(3) and A(4) solutions were 0.9999. The method was validated using cucumber spiked with lepimectin at 0.02 and 0.2 mg/kg and pepper, mandarin, hulled rice, potato, soybean at 0.02 and 0.5 mg/kg. Average recoveries were 76.0 similar to 114.8% with relative standard deviation less than 10%, and limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.005 and 0.01 mg/kg, respectively. The result of recoveries and overall coefficient of variation of a laboratory results in Gwangju regional KFDA and Daejeon regional KFDA was followed with Codex guideline (CAC/GL 40). Therefore, developed method in this study is accurate, rapid, and appropriate for lepimectin determination and will be used to keep safety of lepimectin residues in agricultural products.