Green Pre-Treatment Strategy Using Ionic Liquid-Based Aqueous Two-Phase Systems for Pesticide Determination in...

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Environmental Science
• Food Chemistry

Background:

• Pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables pose health risks.
• Effective monitoring of pesticide contamination is crucial for consumer safety.
• Conventional methods may lack efficiency or sustainability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate aqueous two-phase systems (ATPSs) for pesticide extraction from strawberry samples.
• To investigate the efficiency of phosphonium or ammonium ionic liquids (ILs) combined with ammonium sulfate for pesticide preconcentration.
• To assess the sustainability of the proposed method using green chemistry metrics.

Main Methods:

• Liquid-liquid equilibrium measurements for various ATPSs.
• Extraction experiments using clomazone, pyraclostrobin, and deltamethrin.
• Optimization of ATPS parameters (pH, temperature, composition).
• Analysis of pesticide concentrations using liquid chromatography.

Main Results:

• All tested pesticides effectively migrated to the IL-rich phase in the ATPSs.
• Extraction efficiencies exceeding 98% were achieved for clomazone, pyraclostrobin, and deltamethrin.
• Significant pesticide preconcentration to mg/L levels was obtained in strawberry samples.
• The optimized system demonstrated high efficiency and selectivity.

Conclusions:

• ATPSs utilizing phosphonium/ammonium ILs and ammonium sulfate offer an effective pre-treatment for pesticide residue analysis.
• The developed method is suitable for sensitive detection of pesticides in complex food matrices like strawberries.
• The approach aligns with green chemistry principles, offering a sustainable alternative for food safety analysis.