Application of hollow fibre liquid phase microextraction for the multiresidue determination of pesticides in alcoholic beverages by ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry

Mass Spectrometric Methods for Non-Targeted Screening of Metabolites: A Future Perspective for the Identification of Unknown Compounds in Plant Extracts

Phyto products are widely used in natural products, such as medicines, cosmetics or as so-called “superfoods”. However, the exact metabolite composition of these products is still unknown, due to the time-consuming process of metabolite identification. Non-target screening by LC-HRMS/MS could be a technique to overcome these problems with its capacity to identify compounds based on their retention time, accurate mass and fragmentation pattern. In particular, the use of computational tools, such as deconvolution algorithms, retention time prediction, in silico fragmentation and sophisticated search algorithms, for comparison of spectra similarity with mass spectral databases facilitate researchers to conduct a more exhaustive profiling of metabolic contents. This review aims to provide an overview of various techniques and tools for non-target screening of phyto samples using LC-HRMS/MS.

Improved magnetic solid-phase extraction based on magnetic sorbent obtained from sand for the extraction of pesticides from fruit juice

BACKGROUND

A combination of magnetic solid-phase extraction using an efficient and cheap magnetic sorbent obtained from sand and dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction has been developed for the extraction of nine multiclass pesticides (clodinafop-propargyl, haloxyfop-R-methyl, fenoxaprop-P-ethyl, oxadiazon, penconazole, diniconazole, chlorpyrifos, fenazaquin, and fenpropathrin) from commercial fruit juices (sour cherry, pomegranate, grape, watermelon, orange, apricot, and peach juices). The enriched pesticides were determined by gas chromatography-flame ionization detector and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The sorbent was natural iron oxide entrapped in silica along with some impurities. In this method, to extract the analytes from the samples, an appropriate amount of the magnetic sorbent (at mg level) is added. Then the sorbent particles are isolated from the solution using an external magnetic field and the adsorbed analytes are desorbed from the sorbent by acetone. In the following, a dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction procedure is carried out to concentrate the analytes more and to reach low limits of detection.

RESULTS

Under optimized extraction conditions, the method revealed satisfactory repeatability (relative standard deviation ≤8% for intra-day and inter-day precision), reasonable extraction recovery (43.3-55.9%), high enrichment factors (433-559), and low limits of detection (0.45-0.89 μg L^-1 ).

CONCLUSION

The method was applied in the analysis of pesticides in various fruit juices. Chlorpyrifos was found in peach juice at a concentration of 27 ± 2 μg L^-1 (n = 3) using a gas chromatography-flame ionization detector. To verify the results, the peach juice was also injected into gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after applying the proposed extraction method. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Miniaturized QuEChERS method for determination of 97 pesticide residues in wine by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry

A miniaturized sample preparation method was developed and validated for the multiresidue determination of 97 pesticides in wine samples. The proposed extraction procedure is based on the QuEChERS acetate method with dispersive solid phase extraction (d-SPE) for the clean-up step. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) was used for determination. The extraction and clean-up steps were evaluated to obtain the best conditions for the selected pesticides. Miniaturization of the sample preparation step provided a reduction in the consumption of samples and chemicals. The method limit of quantification was between 10 and 20 μg L-1. Trueness results, obtained by recovery assays at the spike levels 10, 20, 50 and 100 μg L-1, ranged from 70 to 120% with precision in terms of relative standard deviations (RSD) ≤ 20%. The method was successfully applied for the analysis of wine samples and different pesticides were found at concentrations from 14 to 55 μg L-1.

Recent Trends in the Analysis of Chemical Contaminants in Beverages

Chemical contaminants should not be present in beverages for human consumption, but could eventually be ingested by consumers as they may appear naturally from the environment or be produced by anthropogenic sources. These contaminants could belong to many different chemical sources, including heavy metals, amines, bisphenols, phthalates, pesticides, perfluorinated compounds, inks, ethyl carbamate, and others. It is well known that these hazardous chemicals in beverages can represent a severe threat by the potential risk of generating diseases to humans if no strict quality control is applied during beverages processing. This review compiles the most updated knowledge of the presence of potential contaminants in various types of beverages (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic), as well as in their containers, to prevent undesired migration. Special attention is given to the extraction and pre-concentration techniques applied to these samples, as well as to the analytical techniques necessary for the determination of chemicals with a potential contaminant effect. Finally, an overview of the current legislation is carried out, as well as future trends of research in this field.

Dissipation behavior, residue distribution, and risk assessment of triflumizole and FM-6-1 in greenhouse strawberries and soil

This study aimed to develop a reliable method for the simultaneous analysis of triflumizole (TRIF) and its primary metabolite FM-6-1 (N-4-chloro-2-trifluoromethylphenyl-2-propoxy-acetamidine) in the soil and treated strawberries using solid phase extraction (SPE) coupled with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). Using this method, TRIF and FM-6-1 degradation in strawberries and the soil under greenhouse conditions were investigated. The field trials showed that t_1/2 of TRIF and total residues (the sum of TRIF and FM-6-1) were 1.6-2.2 days and 2.4-2.9 days in strawberry and 4.3-6.1 days and 5.5-6.9 days in soil, respectively. Terminal total residues were ≤ 0.39 mg/kg in strawberry and ≤ 0.42 mg/kg in soil from 5 to 10 days of harvest. The risk quotient (RQ) of TRIF was below 1.89%, showing that the dietary risk of TRIF in strawberry was low. These findings provide guidance for the use of TRIF on crops and provide reference to establish the maximum residue level (MRL) of TRIF in strawberry.

Functional Group-Dependent Screening of Organophosphate Esters (OPEs) and Discovery of an Abundant OPE Bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-phenyl Phosphate in Indoor Dust

There is increasing scientific interest in environmental pollution and the effect on public health caused by organophosphate esters (OPEs). Using liquid chromatography coupled to a hybrid quadrupole Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometer, a novel, robust, and untargeted screening strategy for the identification of novel OPEs in indoor dust samples was presently developed based on the characteristic molecular fragmentation pathways, and 12 previously reported OPEs and six previously unrecognized OPEs were detected in the combined extracts of indoor dust samples, collected in Nanjing, eastern China. One of the six detected OPEs, bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-phenyl phosphate (BEHPP), was identified by comparison of unique LC and MS characteristics with a synthesized pure standard. Accurate concentrations of BEHPP were determined in n = 50 individual indoor dust samples with 100% detection frequency with a median concentration range of 50-1530 ng/g dry weight, which were generally greater or at least comparable to traditional OPEs, that is, triphenyl phosphate and 2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPP), in the same dust samples. Statistically significant, positive correlations were found for log-transformed concentrations of BEHPP versus EHDPP (r² = 0.7884, p < 0.0001), and BEHPP versus tris(2-ethylhexyl)phosphate (r² = 0.4054, p < 0.0001), suggesting their similar commercial applications and sources in the environment.

Recent Trends in the Development of Green Microextraction Techniques for the Determination of Hazardous Organic Compounds in Wine

Background:

The sample preparation is the most crucial step in the analytical method development. Taking this into account, it is easily understood why the domain of sample preparation prior to detection is rapidly developing. Following the modern trends towards the automation, miniaturization, simplification and minimization of organic solvents and sample volumes, green microextraction techniques witness rapid growth in the field of food quality and safety. In a globalized market, it is essential to face the consumers need and develop analytical methods that guarantee the quality of food products and beverages. The strive for the accurate determination of organic hazards in a famous and appreciated alcoholic beverage like wine has necessitated the development of microextraction techniques.

Objective:

The objective of this review is to summarize all the recent microextraction methodologies, including solid phase extraction (SPE), solid phase microextraction (SPME), liquid-phase microextraction (LPME), dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME), stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE), matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD), single-drop microextraction (SDME) and dispersive solid phase extraction (DSPE) that were developed for the determination of hazardous organic compounds (pesticides, mycotoxins, colorants, biogenic amines, off-flavors) in wine. The analytical performance of the techniques is evaluated and their advantages and limitations are discussed.

Conclusion:

An extensive investigation of these techniques remains vital through the development of novel strategies and the implication of new materials that could upgrade the selectivity for the extraction of target analytes.

A review of the analytical methods used for beer ingredient and finished product analysis and quality control

Beer is an incredibly complex beverage containing more than 3000 different compounds, including carbohydrates, proteins, ions, microbes, organic acids, and polyphenols, among others. Beer becomes even more complex during storage, for over time it may undergo chemical changes that negatively affect the flavor, aroma, and appearance. Thus, it can be expected that maintaining the quality of beer throughout its lifetime is a difficult task. Since it is such a popular drink throughout the world, being familiar with proper analytical techniques for beer evaluation is useful for researchers and brewers. These techniques include, but are not limited to, gas chromatography, liquid chromatography, matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization, capillary electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and flame ionization detection. This review aims to summarize the various ingredients and components of beer, discuss how they affect the finished product, and present some of the analytical methods used for quality control and understanding the formation of chemicals in beer during the brewing process.

Application of a clean-up procedure using a ternary liquid phase system combined with pre-concentration by microextraction in the analysis of seven pesticides from soya milk

BACKGROUND

A method has been developed based on a three-phase system, followed by dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for the extraction of seven pesticides from soya milk prior to analysis by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection. The base of this method is the different extraction capability of the components of soya milk according to each of the phases involved. In this procedure, a homogeneous solution consisting of soya milk and a water-miscible solvent (acetonitrile) is separated into two phases in the presence of Na₂ SO₄ and the analytes are extracted into the produced acetonitrile droplets. The acetonitrile phase is mixed with a pre-concentration solvent to perform the next microextraction procedure for further enrichment of the analytes.

RESULTS

Limits of detection and quantification were reached in the ranges of 0.11-0.35 and 0.35-1.20 µg L^-1 , respectively. Enrichment factors and extraction recoveries were in the ranges of 562-933 and 56-93%, respectively. Relative standard deviations were ≤7% for intra- (n = 6) and inter-day (n = 5) precisions at two concentrations of 10 and 50 µg L^-1 of each analyte.

CONCLUSION

The proposed method was applied to the analysis of pesticides in soya milk samples at µg L^-1 concentrations. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Low temperature-induced homogeneous liquid–liquid extraction and ternary deep eutectic solvent-based dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction followed by gas chromatography in the assessment of multiclass pesticide residues in cucumbers

In this work, a new DES and liquid nitrogen are used as a preconcentration solvent in DLLME and a phase separation agent in HLLE, respectively.

Molecular classification of pesticides including persistent organic pollutants, phenylurea and sulphonylurea herbicides

Pesticide residues in wine were analyzed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Retentions are modelled by structure–property relationships. Bioplastic evolution is an evolutionary perspective conjugating effect of acquired characters and evolutionary indeterminacy–morphological determination–natural selection principles; its application to design co-ordination index barely improves correlations. Fractal dimensions and partition coefficient differentiate pesticides. Classification algorithms are based on information entropy and its production. Pesticides allow a structural classification by nonplanarity, and number of O, S, N and Cl atoms and cycles; different behaviours depend on number of cycles. The novelty of the approach is that the structural parameters are related to retentions. Classification algorithms are based on information entropy. When applying procedures to moderate-sized sets, excessive results appear compatible with data suffering a combinatorial explosion. However, equipartition conjecture selects criterion resulting from classification between hierarchical trees. Information entropy permits classifying compounds agreeing with principal component analyses. Periodic classification shows that pesticides in the same group present similar properties; those also in equal period, maximum resemblance. The advantage of the classification is to predict the retentions for molecules not included in the categorization. Classification extends to phenyl/sulphonylureas and the application will be to predict their retentions.

Application of fully automatic hollow fiber liquid phase microextraction to assess the distribution of organophosphate esters in the Pearl River Estuaries

Organophosphate esters (OPEs) are widespread organic pollutants that could be detected in various environmental matrices. In this study, a sample pretreatment method was developed for the determination of 9 OPEs by automatic hollow fiber-liquid phase microextraction (HF-LPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). High sensitivity of OPEs could be achieved after optimization of several important parameters with the limits of detection (LODs) ranging from 2.6 to 120 ng L(-1) for different individual OPEs, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) ranged from 2.1% to 10.4%. Acceptable recoveries were observed and the proposed method was then successfully applied to determine OPEs in seawaters collected from 23 sampling sites of the Pearl River Estuaries in dry and wet seasons, respectively. All of the OPEs could be detected, except tris(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP). The total concentrations of 9 OPEs in seawaters were ranging from 2.04 (Hemen) to 3.12 (Humen) μg L(-1) in the dry season and from 1.08 (Hemen) to 2.50 (Jitimen) μgL(-1) in the wet season. By using spatial interpolation method of ordinary kriging, the most polluted area of ΣOPEs was found in Humen in the dry season, while it was Jitimen in the wet season. Moreover, the annual input of ΣOPEs discharged via eight estuaries ranged from 384 tons (Jitimen) to 1,225 tons (Modaomen), and the total annual input was 5,694 tons.

QSPR prediction of chromatographic retention times of pesticides: partition and fractal indices

The high-performance liquid-chromatographic retentions of red-wine pesticide residues are modeled by structure-property relationships. The effect of different types of features is analyzed: geometric, lipophilic, etc. The properties are fractal dimensions, partition coefficient, etc., in linear and nonlinear correlation models. Biological plastic evolution is an evolutionary perspective conjugating the effect of acquired characters and relations that emerge among the principles of evolutionary indeterminacy, morphological determination and natural selection. It is applied to design the co-ordination index that is used to characterize pesticide retentions. The parameters used to calculate the co-ordination index are the molar formation enthalpy, molecular weight and surface area. The morphological and co-ordination indices barely improve the correlations. The fractal dimension averaged for non‑buried atoms, partition coefficient, etc. distinguishes the pesticide molecular structures. The structural and constituent classification is based on nonplanarity, and the number of cycles, and O, S, N and Cl atoms. Different behavior depends on the number of cycles.

Challenges in the development of bioanalytical liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method with emphasis on fast analysis

The development of bioanalytical methods has become more and more challenging over the past years due to very demanding requirements in terms of method reliability, sensitivity, speed of analysis and sample throughput. LC-MS/MS has established itself as a method of choice for routine analysis of biological materials. A development of such method consists of several steps including sample preparation and clean-up step, efficient chromatographic separation, sensitive and selective detection of analytes in complex matrices, a choice of convenient data processing and calibration approach and finally method validation. Each of these steps has its own constraints and challenges, which are discussed in detail in this review. Novel and modern approaches in sample preparation, chromatography and detection are especially emphasized. Attention is paid to proper calibration approach and matrix effects that can seriously affect method accuracy and precision.

Generic sample treatment method for simultaneous determination of multiclass pesticides and mycotoxins in wines by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

In this work, a generic sample treatment method for simultaneous determination of multiclass pesticides and mycotoxins in wines is presented. The proposed method is based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) using polymeric-type SPE cartridges. To evaluate the proposed sample treatment, a liquid chromatography electrospray time-of-flight mass spectrometry method was used for testing 60 selected representative multiclass pesticides and 9 mycotoxins. Two different polymeric sorbents were evaluated, with hydrophilic-lipophilic-balanced (HLB) polymer cartridges being selected (Oasis HLB) as the most suitable for the present study. The identification and confirmation of the compounds was based on retention time and accurate mass measurements of the protonated molecules ([M+H](+)). Limits of detection were below 1 μg L(-1) for the 87% of the studied compounds. With the selected 4:1 preconcentration factor, 70% of the target compounds showed relatively low matrix effects, corresponding to signal suppressions lower than 30%. Recovery studies (n=10) were carried out at two concentration levels, 2.5 μg L(-1) and 25 μg L(-1), obtaining mean recovery rates between 70 and 120% for the 90% of studied analytes. The relative standard deviation (RSD%) values of the entire procedure were below 15% in most cases (97% of the studied analytes). The proposed method was successfully applied to 24 red wine samples produced in different regions of Spain. The concentration levels of the target compounds found in the studied samples were in compliance with the current regulations. Aflatoxin B(2) and metalaxyl were the most detected compounds (75% and 50% of the studied samples, respectively).

Determination of pesticide residues in wine by membrane-assisted solvent extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

The determination of pesticides in food products is an essential issue to guarantee food safety and minimise health risks of consumers. A protocol based on membrane-assisted solvent extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) that allows the determination of 18 pesticides in red wine at minimum labour effort for sample preparation was developed and validated. Ten millilitres of wine were extracted using 100 μL of toluene filled in a non-porous polyethylene membrane bag which is immersed in the wine sample. After 150 min extraction under stirring, an aliquot of the extraction solution is analysed using HPLC-MS/MS. The limits of quantification ranged from 3 ng/L for Pirimicarb to 1.33 μg/L for Imidacloprid. Quantification by matrix-matched calibration provided relative standard deviations ≤16 % for most of the target pesticides. The linearity of calibration was given over three to four orders of magnitude, which enables the reliable measurement of a broad range of pesticide concentrations, and for each target pesticide, the sensitivity of the protocol meets the maximum residue levels set by legislations at least for wine grapes. Good agreement of results was found when the new method was compared with a standard liquid-liquid extraction protocol. In five wine samples analysed, Carbendazim and Metalaxyl were determined at micrograms per litre concentrations, even in some of the organic wines. Tebuconazol and Cyprodinitril were determined at lower abundance and concentration, followed by Spiroxamin and Diuron.