Extraction and determination of Benzoyl-urea insecticides in some fresh fruits using dispersive liquid phase micro-extraction and HPLC method

To improve the quality and increase the shelf life of agricultural products, many pesticides are widely used. Although the use of pesticides in agricultural applications provides a wide range of beneficial effects, overuse of these substances results in their accumulation in soil, surface water, and foods. The analysis of pesticide residues is thus very important for the health of consumers. In this study, a combined extraction method of QuEChERS based on deep eutectic solvents and DLLME method for the extraction of Hexaflumuron, Chlorfluazuron, Flufenoxuron, Diafenthiuron, and Diflubenzuron benzoylurea pesticides from fruit samples of grape, apple, cherry, apricot, and orange and then analyzing them using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector is presented. According to the results, the proposed method is simple, reliable, and inexpensive with low organic solvent consumption and has a short analysis time, and indicates good values extraction efficiency, so that under optimal conditions, limits of detection and quantification were obtained in the range of 3.3-6.5 and 11.2-22.2 ng/ml, respectively. Recovery rates and enhancement factors ranged from 52% to 88%. In actual samples, only Flufenoxuron insecticide present in one grape sample was detected at 17 0.5 ng/ml.