Multiresidue analysis of pesticides in four different pomegranate cultivars: Investigating matrix effect variability by GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS

Matrix effect (ME) is unavoidable in multiresidue pesticide analysis, even when using highly advanced in-struments, and differences in MEs can affect residue analytical accuracy due to pomegranate cultivar composi-tion variations. However, literature to support this claim is limited. The study used GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS to investigate four different Indian pomegranate cultivar extracts and their MEs on multi-class pesticides. The whole fruit and arils of all cultivars were tested for 22 GC-amenable and 21 LC-amenable pesticides. Principal component analysis of the data confirmed that each cultivar had unique MEs for each pesticide. The majority of pesticides showed acute variations in recovery rates with 95% confidence, while GC-MS/MS-amenable pesticides showed more variation. Although extrapolative dilution reduced the influence of MEs on analytical accuracy, a generalized matrix-matching for all cultivars was not possible to achieve. To reduce the variability in MEs, it is recommended that a cultivar-specific matrix-matched standard should be used.