Rapid Analysis of Tetraconazole Residues in Fruits and Vegetables using Ethyl Acetate Extraction and Gas Chromatography-tandem Mass Spectrometry

A method based on ethyl acetate extraction and gas chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry was developed for determining tetraconazole residues in fruits and vegetables. A 10 g homogenized sample was mixed with 10 mL ethyl acetate, shaken vigorously for 3 min, stored at $-20^{\circ}C$ for 15 min, and then vortexed vigorously for 1 min; 1 g NaCl and 4 g anhydrous $MgSO_4$ were added. The clean-up was carried out by applying dispersive solid-phase with 150 mg $MgSO_4$and 50 mg primary secondary amine. Three precursor product ion transitions for tetraconazole were measured and evaluated to provide the maximum degree of confidence. Average recoveries in fruits and vegetables at three levels (0.005, 0.05 and 0.5 mg/kg) ranged from 85.53% to 110.66% with relative standard deviations ($RSD_r$) from 1.3% to 17.5%. The LODs ranged from 0.002 to 0.004 ${\mu}g$/kg, and LOQs ranged from 0.006 to 0.012 ${\mu}g$/kg. This method was also applied to determine tetraconazole residue in cucumber dissipation experiment under field conditions. The half-lives of tetraconazole in cucumber were in the range of 2.1-3.1 days.