Pesticide residue analyses in plant material by chromatographic methods: clean-up procedures and selective detectors

This paper deals with the analysis of pesticide residues by chromatographic methods in samples of plant origin. Emphasis is put on the isolation and clean-up steps of the sample preparation for GC or LC determination. The problems of the extraction solvent selection and clean-up procedures using different types of adsorption column chromatography or gel permeation chromatography are discussed. Attention is also given to alternative techniques such as supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), matrix solid-phase dispersion (extraction) (MSPD) and sweep co-distillation that are used for sample processing prior to GC and LC analysis. Currently, pesticide residue analyses are typically multi-residue procedures with highly sensitive methods. Consumption of costly and toxic solvents is being minimized and fully automated analytical procedures can be expected in the future.