Determination of ametoctradin residue in fruits and vegetables by modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe method using ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid, effective and sensitive method to quantitatively determine ametoctradin residue in apple, cucumber, cabbage, tomato and grape was developed and validated using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS). The target compound was determined in less than 5.0 min using an electrospray ionisation source in positive mode (ESI+). The limit of detection was below 0.043 μg kg−1, whereas the limits of quantification did not exceed 0.135 μg kg−1 in all five matrices. The method showed excellent linearity (R2 > 0.9969) for the target compound. Recovery studies were performed in all matrices at three spiked levels (1, 10 and 100 μg L−1). The mean recoveries from five matrices ranged from 81.81% to 100.1%, with intra-day relative standard deviations (RSDr) in the range of 0.65–7.88% for the test compound. This method will be useful for the quick and routine detection of ametoctradin residues in potato, grape, cucumber, apple and tomato.