Patricia Atkins, SPEX CertiPrep
Subject: Tissue Homogenization Cell Lysis
Application: QuEChERS/Pesticide Extraction
Pesticide residues in agricultural food sources are widely considered to cause adverse health effects when consumed by humans. In particular, much of the produce sold in the U.S. is imported and concern over pesticide levels in these fruits and vegetables in comparison to those grown domestically has resulted in increased testing for pesticide residues.
In 2003, the QuEChERS method for pesticide analysis was introduced by Anastassiades and Lehotay et al. QuEChERS is an acronym for Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe and allows for analysis of multiple pesticides, while offering faster and easier handling over previous methods. The QuEChERS method is now widely used and has been adopted by the AOAC as method 2007.01 “Determination of Pesticide Residues in Foods by Acetonitrile Extraction and Partitioning with Magnesium Sulfate.” In Europe, the official method is EN 15662.
For a typical analysis, 10-15 g samples of chopped and homogenized agricultural produce are placed in 50 ml centrifuge tubes and an extracting solvent, such as acetonitrile, and anhydrous magnesium sulfate and sodium acetate or sodium chloride salts are added. The tubes are capped and shaken by hand for one minute to mix the contents and extract the pesticide into the solvent. The samples are then treated with clean up materials, concentrated, and analyzed by GC/MS or LC/MS
In this study, the Geno/Grinder was employed to homogenize the fruit/vegetable samples and to mix the produce rapidly and thoroughly with the salts and solvent in an effort to improve the extraction step. The goal of the study was to determine whether the use of the Geno/Grinder during the extraction step would increase pesticide recovery over the traditional, manual QuEChERS method.
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