Assessment of Pesticide Residues in Some Fruits Using Gas Chromatography Coupled with Micro Electron Capture Detector

A very sensitive analytical method for the determination of 26 pesticides in some fruits based on solid phase extraction (SPE) cleanup was developed using gas chromatography (GC) coupled with micro electron capture detector (mu ECD). The identity of the pesticides was confirmed by gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) using selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. Ethyl acetate was used as a solvent for the extraction of pesticide residues with assistance of sonication. For cleanup an octadecyl, C18 SPE column was used. A linear response of mu ECD was observed for all pesticides with good correlation coefficients (>0.9992). Proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of pesticide residues in the orange, apple, and grape fruits. Average recoveries achieved for all of the pesticides at fortification levels of 0.05, 1.0 and 2.0 mu g g(-1) in analyzed fruits were above 90% with relative standard deviations (RSD) less than 6%.