Supercritical fluid extraction of pesticide residues in fortified apple matrices

In the present work, by means of the supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) technique, we developed a method for pesticide residue extraction which proved fast and effective in extracting the largest possible number of plant protection products in a short time and with acceptable recoveries and reproducibility. We observed the recoveries in fortified apple matrices while the instrument conditions varied, and obtained eventually parameters which allowed us to extract - by one and the same method - 92 pesticides, with good levels of recovery and reproducibility. Then, the pesticides were assessed by means of multiresidue methods, gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.