Identification and quantification of carbamate pesticides in dried lime tree flowers by means of excitation-emission molecular fluorescence and parallel factor analysis when quenching effect exists

In Silico Investigation of Selected Pesticides and Their Determination in Agricultural Products Using QuEChERS Methodology and HPLC-DAD

In this study, we considered some pesticides as active substances within formulations for the protection of plant-based food in the Republic of Serbia in silico, because these pesticides have not often been investigated in this way previously, and in an analytical way, because there are not very many available fast, cheap, and easy methods for their determination in real agricultural samples. Seven pesticides were detected in selected agricultural products (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and grapes) using the QuEChERS methodology and HPLC-DAD. Standard curves for the investigated pesticides (chlorantraniliprole, methomyl, metalaxyl, thiacloprid, acetamiprid, emamectin benzoate, and cymoxanil) show good linearity, with R² values from 0.9785 to 0.9996. The HPLC-DAD method is fast, and these pesticides can be determined in real spiked samples in less than 15 min. We further characterized the pesticides we found in food based on physicochemical properties and molecular descriptors to predict the absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, and toxicity (ADMET) of the compounds. We summarized the data supporting their effects on humans using various computational tools to determine their potential adverse effects. The results of our prediction study show that all of the selected pesticides considered in this study have good oral bioavailability, and those with high toxicity, therefore, could be harmful to human health. Chlorantraniliprole was shown in a molecular docking study as a good starting point for a new Alzheimer's disease drug candidate.

Alzheimer's disease diagnosis by blood plasma molecular fluorescence spectroscopy (EEM)

Despite tremendous research advances in detecting Alzheimer's disease (AD), traditional diagnostic tests remain expensive, time-consuming or invasive. The search for a low-cost, rapid, and minimally invasive test has marked a new era of research and technological developments toward establishing blood-based AD biomarkers. The current study has employed excitation-emission matrices (EEM) of fluorescence spectroscopy combined with machine learning to diagnose AD using blood plasma samples from 230 individuals (83 AD patients from 147 healthy controls). To evaluate the performance of the classification algorithms, we calculated the commonly used figures of merit (accuracy, sensitivity and specificity) and figures of merit that take into account the samples unbalance and the discrimination power of the models, as F₂-score (F₂), Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) and test effectiveness (\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\delta$$\end{document}δ). The classification models achieved satisfactory results: Parallel Factor Analysis with Quadratic Discriminant Analysis (PARAFAC-QDA) with 83.33% sensitivity, 100% specificity, 86.21% F₂; and Tucker3-QDA with 91.67% sensitivity, 95.45% specificity and 91.67% F₂. In addition, the classifiers show high overall performance with 94.12% accuracy and 0.87 MCC. Regarding the discrimination power between healthy and AD patients, the classification algorithms showed high effectiveness with the mean scores separated by three or more standard deviations. The PARAFAC's spectral profiles and the wavelength values from both models loading profiles can be used in future research to relate this information to plasma AD biomarkers. Our results point to a rapid, low-cost and minimally invasive blood-based method for AD diagnosis.

Simultaneous determination of carbendazim and chlorothalonil pesticide residues in peanut oil using excitation-emission matrix fluorescence coupled with three-way calibration method

A novel fluorescence application for simultaneous determination of two common fungicide pesticides (carbendazim and chlorothalonil) in peanut oil is presented. Using the strategy of combining excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence with three-way calibration methods, the proposed approach successfully achieved quantitative analysis of carbendazim and chlorothalonil pesticide residues in peanut oil, even with highly overlapped spectra. It needs little preparation, using "mathematical separation" instead of "analytical separation" to achieve concentration prediction of target analytes in complex systems. Each analyte was performed using fluorescence spectroscopy after instrument spectral correction and scatter removal. Then the data were modeled with two three-way calibration algorithms, including alternating trilinear decomposition (ATLD) and alternating penalty trilinear decomposition (APTLD). The results indicated that APTLD performed slightly better than ATLD for this system. The carbendazim and chlorothalonil can be recognized simultaneously with the correlation coefficients all above 0.96 between resolved spectra and actual spectra. Satisfactory results have been achieved with the average recoveries (mean ± standard deviation) of carbendazim and chlorothalonil being 100.2 ± 6.7% and 99.7 ± 6.7%, respectively. Moreover, as for carbendazim and chlorothalonil, the sensitivity (SENs) are 1.50 × 10² and 3.80 × 10² mL ng^-1, the limits of detection (LODs) are 11 ng mL^-1 and 4.3 ng mL^-1, the limit of quantitation (LOQ) are 33.33 ng mL^-1 and 13.03 ng mL^-1, respectively. The above results demonstrated that the proposed method is sensitive, fast and accurate for direct quantitative analysis of multiple pesticide residues in complex matrix such as that of peanut oil.

Total Fluorescence Fingerprinting of Pesticides: A Reliable Approach for Continuous Monitoring of Soils and Waters

The present work relates to the creation/extension of a database of Total Excitation-Emission and Total Synchronous Fluorescence Matrices (TEEMs and TSFMs) along with optimal Synchronous Fluorescence Spectra (SFS) to fingerprint pesticides widely used in Morocco. This spectrometric multi-component fingerprinting may permit the direct detection of pesticides persisting in soil or water. The objective of the current investigation is to detect four pesticide remains in agricultural soils by applying the spectrometric fingerprinting results. They are the commercial: i) insecticide Axlera 5G (carbamate), ii) fungicide Orsalis 5% SC (triazole), iii) insecticide Force 0,5 G (pyrethrinoid) and iv) insecticide Proclaim 05 SG (non-assigned). The agricultural plantations monitored are located in the great agricultural Doukkala region at the western Atlantic side of Morocco, where these chemicals are in large sale and use.

Interference-free spectrofluorometric quantification of aristolochic acid I and aristololactam I in five Chinese herbal medicines using chemical derivatization enhancement and second-order calibration methods

A rapid interference-free spectrofluorometric method combined with the excitation-emission matrix fluorescence and the second-order calibration methods based on the alternating penalty trilinear decomposition (APTLD) and the self-weighted alternating trilinear decomposition (SWATLD) algorithms, was proposed for the simultaneous determination of nephrotoxic aristolochic acid I (AA-I) and aristololactam I (AL-I) in five Chinese herbal medicines. The method was based on a chemical derivatization that converts the non-fluorescent AA-I to high-fluorescent AL-I, achieving a high sensitive and simultaneous quantification of the analytes. The variables of the derivatization reaction that conducted by using zinc powder in acetose methanol aqueous solution, were studied and optimized for best quantification results of AA-I and AL-I. The satisfactory results of AA-I and AL-I for the spiked recovery assay were achieved with average recoveries in the range of 100.4-103.8% and RMSEPs <0.78ngmL^-1, which validate the accuracy and reliability of the proposed method. The contents of AA-I and AL-I in five herbal medicines obtained from the proposed method were also in good accordance with those of the validated LC-MS/MS method. In light of high sensitive fluorescence detection, the limits of detection (LODs) of AA-I and AL-I for the proposed method compare favorably with that of the LC-MS/MS method, with the LODs <0.35 and 0.29ngmL^-1, respectively. The proposed strategy based on the APTLD and SWATLD algorithms by virtue of the "second-order advantage", can be considered as an attractive and green alternative for the quantification of AA-I and AL-I in complex herbal medicine matrices without any prior separations and clear-up processes.

Simultaneous determination of umbelliferone and scopoletin in Tibetan medicine Saussurea laniceps and traditional Chinese medicine Radix angelicae pubescentis using excitation-emission matrix fluorescence coupled with second-order calibration method

A chemometrics-assisted excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence method is presented for simultaneous determination of umbelliferone and scopoletin in Tibetan medicine Saussurea laniceps (SL) and traditional Chinese medicine Radix angelicae pubescentis (RAP). Using the strategy of combining EEM fluorescence data with second-order calibration method based on the alternating trilinear decomposition (ATLD) algorithm, the simultaneous quantification of umbelliferone and scopoletin in the two different complex systems was achieved successfully, even in the presence of potential interferents. The pretreatment is simple due to the "second-order advantage" and the use of "mathematical separation" instead of awkward "physical or chemical separation". Satisfactory results have been achieved with the limits of detection (LODs) of umbelliferone and scopoletin being 0.06ngmL(-1) and 0.16ngmL(-1), respectively. The average spike recoveries of umbelliferone and scopoletin are 98.8±4.3% and 102.5±3.3%, respectively. Besides, HPLC-DAD method was used to further validate the presented strategy, and t-test indicates that prediction results of the two methods have no significant differences. Satisfactory experimental results imply that our method is fast, low-cost and sensitive when compared with HPLC-DAD method.

A road map for multi-way calibration models

A road map is proposed for the selection of a multi-way calibration model according to the data properties.

Standard addition method based on four-way PARAFAC decomposition to solve the matrix interferences in the determination of carbamate pesticides in lettuce using excitation-emission fluorescence data

The simultaneous determination of two carbamate pesticides (carbaryl and carbendazim) and of the degradation product of carbaryl (1-naphthol) in iceberg lettuce was achieved by means of PARAFAC decomposition and excitation-emission fluorescence matrices. A standard addition method for a calibration based on four-way data was applied using different dilutions of the extract from iceberg lettuce as a fourth way that provided the enough variation of the matrix to carry out the four-way analysis. A high fluorescent overlapping existed between the three analytes and the fluorophores of the matrix. The identification of two fluorescent matrix constituents through the four-way model enabled to know the matrix contribution in each dilution of the extract. This contribution was subtracted from the previous signals and a subsequent three-way analysis was carried out with the tensors corresponding to each dilution. The PARAFAC decomposition of these resulting tensors showed a CORCONDIA index equal to 99%. For the identification of the analytes, the correlation between the PARAFAC spectral loadings and the reference spectra has been used. The trueness of the method, in the concentration range studied, was guaranteed because there was neither constant nor proportional bias according to the appropriate hypothesis tests. The best recovery percentages were obtained with the data from the most diluted extract, being the results: 127.6% for carbaryl, 125.55% for carbendazim and 87.6% for 1-naphthol. When the solvent calibration was performed, the decision limit (CCα) and the capability of detection (CCβ) values, in x0=0, were 2.21 and 4.38 μg L(-1) for carbaryl, 4.87 and 9.64 μg L(-1) for carbendazim; and 3.22 and 6.38 μg L(-1) for 1-naphthol, respectively, for probabilities of false positive and false negative fixed at 0.05. However, these values were 5.30 and 10.49 μg L(-1) for carbaryl, 18.05 and 35.73 μg L(-1) for carbendazim; and 1.92 and 3.79 μg L(-1) for 1-naphthol, respectively, when the matrix-matched calibration using the most diluted extract was carried out in the recovery study.

Catalog of total excitation-emission and total synchronous fluorescence maps with synchronous fluorescence spectra of homologated fluorescent pesticides in large use in Morocco: development of a spectrometric low cost and direct analysis as an alert method in case of massive contamination of soils and waters by fluorescent pesticides

The purpose of this research is to develop a direct spectrometric approach to monitor soils and waters, at a lower cost than the widely used chromatographic techniques; a spectrometric approach that is effective, reliable, fast, easy to implement, and without any use of organic solvents whose utilization is subject to law limitation. It could be suitable at least as an alert method in case of massive contamination. Here, we present for the first time a catalog of excitation-emission and total synchronous fluorescence maps that may be considered as fingerprints of a series of homologated pesticides, in large use in Morocco, aiming at a direct detection of their remains in agricultural soils and neighboring waters. After a large survey among farmers, agricultural workers and product distributors in two important agricultural regions of Morocco (Doukkala-Abda and Sebou basin), 48 commercial pesticides, which are fluorescent, were chosen. A multi-component spectral database of these targeted commercial pesticides was elaborated. For each pesticide, dissolved in water at the lowest concentration giving a no-noise fluorescence spectrum, the total excitation-emission matrix (TEEM), the total synchronous fluorescence matrix (TSFM) in addition to synchronous fluorescence spectra (SFS) at those offsets giving the highest fluorescence intensity were recorded. To test this preliminary multi-component database, two real soil samples, collected at a wheat field and at a vine field in the region of Doukkala, were analyzed. Remains of the commercial Pirimor (Carbamate) and Atlantis (Sulfonylurea) were identified by comparison of the recorded TEEM, TSFM, and SFS to those of the preliminary catalog at one hand, and on the basis of the results of a field pre-survey. The developed approach seems satisfactory, and the fluorimetric fingerprint database is under extension to a higher number of fluorescent pesticides in common use among the Moroccan agricultural regions.