Selective extraction and determination of multiclass pesticide residues in post-harvest french beans by low-pressure gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

A selective and reliable extraction procedure was developed and validated to determine multiclass pesticide residues in lyophilized agricultural plants by low-pressure gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. The method is based on a rapid and simple extraction of the lyophilized sample with dichloromethane. The results were compared with those obtained by using fresh and naturally dried samples. Slightly better recoveries and precision values were obtained for the lyophilized samples. The application of the proposed methodology was tested by analyzing French bean plants from an agricultural area of Almeria (Spain). The availability of this methodology, which is capable of detecting a high number of analytes in a single analysis, has priority in analyses for a large number of pesticides used on individual commodities.