Simultaneous determination of pesticide residues in pomegranate whole fruit and arils using LC-MS/MS.

An analytical method in pomegranate whole fruits and arils was developed in LC-MS/MS and validated as per SANTE/12682/2019. Samples were extracted following acetonitrile-based modified QuEChERS protocol. The method was linear and the coefficient of determination ranged between 0.998 and 0.999. Through this method, all the pesticides were detected and quantified at 10 µg kg. The accuracy test at 10, 50, and 100 µg kg spiking level recorded recovery between 70 and 120% and RSD less than 15% in both matrices. No significant matrix effect was observed for most pesticides. Intra (RSDr) and inter-day (RSDwr) precision estimated at 50 µg kg found acceptable RSD in both matrices. Measurement uncertainty at 50 µg kg was in the range of 4.02 to 16.12 µg kg. Quantifying pesticides in pomegranate whole fruits, peel, and arils using the proposed method is highly suitable and reproducible for 74 pesticides in a short run time of 25.00 min.