Application of QuEChERS Method in Food Pesticide Residue Detection at Home and Abroad

General Application
There are many applications in the QuEchERS method, which can be used to purify pesticide residues, animal residues, additives, illegal additives, plasticizers, etc. This time, we mainly analyze the application of QuEChERS in the detection of pesticide residues in food.

Application of QuEChERS abroad

Foreign applications for the QuEChERS method are widely used to extract and purify samples which are not only for plant and agricultural products such as fruits and vegetables but also for various animal foods (such as chicken, tilapia, etc.) and various types of complex processed high-yield foods (such as honey, French fries, biscuits, and chocolate). It has a variety of inspection methods and emphasizes the combination of instruments.

In addition, the QuEChERS method is widely used in various inspections because of its good extraction effect, high fidelity, and thorough purification. The target substances extracted are not limited to pesticides, and the inspection instruments used are not only limited to conventional air-liquid chromatography, for instance, MBustamante-Rangel et al extracted by QuEChERS method (adding citric acid-sodium citrate buffer to adjust pH).

Application of QuEChERS at home

In China, the early application of the QuEChERS method in the detection of pesticide residues is mainly the inspection of single pesticides, and the extraction target is mostly carbamates, organic phosphorus, and pyrethroids pesticides. With the development of technology, the domestic application of the QuEChERS method has carried out related research on the extraction and purification of samples with the low water content of cereals in addition to pesticide residue inspection of fruits and vegetables.

And this year, with the continuous development of technology and equipment and the efforts of the researchers, the application of the QuEChERS method in China is not limited to traditional agricultural products such as fruits, vegetables, and grains, and the application range has been greatly expanded, such as high viscosity honey, high-fat content fritters, high-fat high protein milk, and milk powder, as well as animal foods with complex matrix components, like the chicken liver, pig liver, fish and so on. In addition, the method has also been well applied to the inspection of pesticide residues in herbal medicines and teas with Chinese characteristics.