Extraction and determination of strobilurin fungicides residues in apple samples using ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction based on a novel hydrophobic deep eutectic solvent followed by H.P.L.C-U.V

ABSTRACT

In this study, several novel and natural hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents (D.E.Ss) were prepared using methyl trioctylammonium chloride (M.T.O.A.C) as H.B.A and different types of straight chain alcohols as H.B.Ds. One of the D.E.Ss composed of M.T.O.A.C and n-butanol was advantageously used to develop an ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (U.A−D.L.L.M.E) method combined with high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (H.P.L.C−U.V) for the determination of some strobilurin fungicides in apple samples. Several important parameters influencing extraction efficiency were investigated and optimised, including the type and volume of extractant in ultrasound stage, sonication time, the type and volume of D.E.S, sample solution pH and effect of salt addition. Under optimal experimental conditions, the method showed good linearity with correlation coefficients (R²) of 0.9985 − 0.9991 in the linear range of 4−1500 μg kg⁻¹, low limits of detection of 1.5−2 μg kg⁻¹ and acceptable extraction recoveries in the range of 76−92%. Enrichment factor was in the range of 95–115. The proposed method was successfully applied for the extraction and preconcentration of trace fungicides in apple samples, and the results demonstrated the potential of the synthesised D.E.S for the extraction and determination of contaminants in aqueous samples.

KEYWORDS:

• Strobilurin fungicides
• apple analysis
• hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents
• dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction
• high-performance liquid chromatography

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Research Council of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (Grant number: 96287) for the financial. Also, the authors appreciate the Research Center for Environmental Determinants of Health (RCEDH) for their cooperation in the preparation and analysis of real samples.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Council of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (Grant number: 96287).