Application of High Performance Liquid Chromatography for Determination of Metalaxyl, Acetamiprid and Azoxystrobine in Tomato Samples

Abstract

A new rapid and simple method for simultaneous determination of azoxystrobin, acetamiprid and metalaxyl in tomatoes has been developed and validated. The separation and quantification of investigated pesticides was performed by reverse-phase HPLC with diode-array detection. Pesticide residues were extracted with acetone and purified by liquid‒liquid extraction and solid-phase extraction. The best results were obtained using acetonitrile‒water (50 : 50, v/v) as a mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 mL/min and UV detection at 220 and 250 nm. The optimal analytical separation was achieved with a LiChrospher 60 RPselect B (250 × 4 mm, 5 μm) column. The developed method was validated for linearity, sensitivity (limits of detection and quantification), accuracy (recovery) and intraday precision (repeatability). This method may find further application in analyses of tomato samples contaminated with residues of investigated pesticides.