Residues Analysis of Post-Harvest Imidazole Fungicides in Citrus Fruit by H PLC and GLC

Abstract

The determination of imazalil and prochloraz fungicide residues has been carried out by HPLC with an UV detector at 204 nm and by GLC with an electron capture detector (ECD).

In both cases fungicide residues were extracted with hexane/acetone (90:10, v/v) after pH adjustment and purified by a liquid-liquid partitioning process. When HPLC was used for prochloraz and imazalil analysis, it was necessary to eliminate the interfering substances with a further clean-up process. This was also required when samples with low residue levels were analyzed by GLC.

Recovery was always higher than 70%. The detection limit was 0.04 ppm for the HPLC method and 0.02 for the GLC method.

Imazalil and prochloraz residues in “Washington Navel” oranges and “Hernandina” clementine fruits, dipped in a 1000 ppm fungicide solution, are reported.     

Determination of strobilurin fungicide residues in fruits and vegetables by nonaqueous micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with indirect laser‐induced fluorescence

A nonaqueous micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography method with indirect LIF was developed for the determination of strobilurin fungicide residues in fruits and vegetables. Hydrophobic CdTe quantum dots (QDs) synthesized in aqueous phase were used as background fluorescent substance. The BGE solution, QD concentration, and separation voltage were optimized to obtain the best separation efficiency and the highest signal intensity. The optimal BGE solution consists of 40 mM phosphate, 120 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate, 15% v/v water and 15% v/v hydrophobic CdTe QDs in formamide, of which apparent pH is 9.5. The optimized separation voltage is controlled as 25 kV. The resultant detection limits of azoxystrobin, kresoxim‐methyl, and pyraclostrobin are all 0.001 mg/kg, their linear dynamic ranges are 0.005–2.5 mg/kg, and the recoveries of the spiked samples are 81.7–96.1%, 86.5–95.7%, and 87.3–97.4%, respectively. This method has been proved to be sensitive enough to detect the aforementioned fungicides in fruits and vegetables at the maximum residue limits.     

A Far-Infrared Study of the Structures of Tris(Methyl Methyl Phosphonate) Iron(III), Tris(EthylEthylphosphonate) Iron(III), and Tris(IsopropylMethylphosphonate) Iron(III)

In articles by Kokalas et al.^1,2 studies were made of the interaction of FeCl₃ with diisopropyl methylphosphonate (DIMP), diethyl ethylphosphonate (DEEP), and dimethyl methyl phosphonate (DMMP) and structures were proposed for the reaction products. When the reactions are run under much milder conditions, there is much evidence^3–5 to support a different mechanism than that proposed by Kokalas and an altogether different structure of the complexes formed. In the structures proposed by Kokalas et al. the iron atom is surrounded by six oxygen atoms and these are the only bonding atoms to the iron. But on the other hand, in donor-acceptor complexes as are formed in chemisorption reactions,^3–5 some of these sites are filled by chloride ions and this difference should be ascertained quite easily by far-infrared spectroscopy. It was the purpose of this study to look at the far-infrared data and either further substantiate the structures proposed or to propose new ones.     

Identification of functionally key residues in maltose transporter with an elastic network model-based thermodynamic method

Periplasmic binding protein-dependent maltose transport system (MBP-MalFGK₂) of Escherichia coli, an important member of the Adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette transporter superfamily, is in charge of the transportation of maltoses across cellular membrane. Studies have shown that this transport processes are activated by the binding of maltose and are accompanied by large-scale cooperative movements between different domains which are mediated by a network of important residues related to signal transduction and allosteric regulation. In this paper, the functionally crucial residues and long-range allosteric pathway of the regulation of the system by substrate were identified by utilising a coarse-grained thermodynamic method proposed by our group. The residues whose perturbations markedly change the binding free energy between maltoses and MBP-MalFGK₂ were considered to be key residues. In result, the key residues in 62 clusters distributed in different subdomains were identified successfully, and the results from our calculation are highly consistent with experimental and theoretical observations. Furthermore, we explored the long-range cooperation within the transporter. These studies will help us better understand the physical mechanism of the effects of the maltose on MBP-MalFGK₂ by long-range allosteric modulation.     

Dissipation,residue, and distribution of pyraclostrobin in banana and soil under field conditions in South China

Two independent field trials were conducted in Guangdong and Guangxi, South China, in 2013, to study the dissipation, residue levels, and distribution of pyraclostrobin in banana and soil under field conditions. Pyraclostrobin residues were determined through a quick and effective method of high-performance liquid chromatography. Results showed that the average recoveries ranged from 80.55% to 98.08%, with relative standard deviations of 3.18–7.81% at three different spiking levels for each different matrix. The quantification limit of the proposed method was 0.006 mg/kg for both banana and soil. The half-lives of pyraclostrobin in bananas were 9.09 days in Guangdong and 8.26 days in Guangxi, and both bananas exhibited a dissipation rate of 90% after 28 days. The half-lives of pyraclostrobin in soil were 11.61 days in Guangdong and 10.60 days in Guangxi, with a dissipation rate of 90% after 35 days. Although several positive banana samples (i.e., pyraclostrobin exceeding the maximum residue limits (MRL) were found, the terminal residues in banana pulp were not detectable. All the terminal residues in banana pulp were below the MRL of 0.02 mg/kg, set by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, indicating a negligible risk associated with the exposure to pyraclostrobin via the consumption of banana. The distribution of pyraclostrobin in soil was also investigated in two experimental sites. The pyraclostrobin in different layer soil was time dependent and did not vary between the two sites. The result also showed that pyraclostrobin could be easily transported from the top soil to the subsoil. However, the highest quantity ratio did not exceed 10% in the bottom layer (20–30 cm). The distribution assessment also revealed that no significant potential environment risk was induced by pyraclostrobin in bananas.     

Trace Metal and Persistent Organochlorine Levels in Wood Bison (Bison bison athabascae) from the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary

Abstract

Tissue samples were collected from ten healthy mature female wood bison (B. bison athabascae) for examination. Livers and kidneys were tested for toxic heavy metals and trace metals considered as essential nutrients for successful reproduction, while fat samples were analyzed for persistent chlorinated hydrocarbons. No elevated levels of toxic heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury) were found and essential trace elements (copper, manganese, selenium, zinc) were within the acceptable ranges established for healthy cattle. All fat samples tested contained trace levels of α-BHC (mean value, 23 ppb) and lindane (mean value, 3 ppb).     

Development and evaluation of microfluidic device for the determination of organophosphorus pesticide incorporating monolith based immobilized AChE with spectrophotometric detection

A spectrophotometric microfluidic bioreactor system is described for the determination of organophosphorus pesticides. The glass chip was designed and fabricated for in situ monolithic preparation and subsequently acetlycholineserase (AChE) immobilization via a covalent bonding method. The porous polymer monolith was prepared using glycidyl methacrylate, ethylenedimethacrylate and 2,2-dimethoxy-1,2-diphenylethan-1-one in binary porogenic solvents of cyclohexanol and dodecanol. The epoxide groups of monolith were reacted with ethylenediamine and gluteraldehyde to allow immobilization of the enzyme using their amine groups. Organophosphorus pesticides can be determined by measuring their inhibition effect on the enzyme AChE using Ellman's reaction. A linear relationship between the absorbance and percentage inhibitions was obtained over the concentration range of 0.25 to 2.50?mg?L^?1 paraoxon with a correlation coefficient (r ²) of 0.9974. The limit of detection (LOD) defined as 10% inhibition (I ₁₀) was 0.17?mg?L^?1 for paraoxon. The relative standard deviations (RSD) of 1.0?mg?L^?1 paraoxon was 3.73% (n?=?5). The proposed µFI system incorporates efficient enzyme immobilization and reduces reagent consumption and waste production and could thus be considered to be more environmentally friendly.     

Automated capillary electrophoresis with on-line preconcentration by solid phase extraction using a sequential injection manifold and contactless conductivity detection

An extension of a capillary electrophoresis instrument coupled to a sequential injection analysis manifold was developed for automated measurements with on-line solid-phase extraction preconcentration. An in-house built capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector was employed for sensitive detection with narrow capillaries of 25 μm internal diameter. The system was assembled into standardized 19 in. frames and racks for easy transport and mobile deployment. The system can be left running unattendedly without manual intervention with good operation stability. To demonstrate the application of the system, a method for the determination of four drugs, namely ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen and bezafibrate, was developed with enrichment factors of up to several hundreds. Detection of the drug residues down to the nM-scale was found possible and the method was found suitable for the detection of ibuprofen in the waste water of a hospital in Hanoi.     

Aromatic spectral editing techniques for magic-angle-spinning solid-state NMR spectroscopy of uniformly 13C-labeled proteins

The four aromatic amino acids in proteins, namely histidine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan, have strongly overlapping ¹³C chemical shift ranges between 100 and 160 ppm, and have so far been largely neglected in solid-state NMR determination of protein structures. Yet aromatic residues play important roles in biology through π–π and cation–π interactions. To better resolve and assign aromatic residues' ¹³C signals in magic-angle-spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR spectra, we introduce two spectral editing techniques. The first method uses gated ¹H decoupling in a proton-driven spin-diffusion (PDSD) experiment to remove all protonated ¹³C signals and retain only non-protonated carbon signals in the aromatic region of the ¹³C spectra. The second technique uses chemical shift filters and ¹H–¹³C dipolar dephasing to selectively detect the Cα, Cβ and CO cross peaks of aromatic residues while suppressing the signals of all aliphatic residues. We demonstrate these two techniques on amino acids, a model peptide, and the microcrystalline protein GB1, and show that they significantly simplify the 2D NMR spectra and both reveal and permit the ready assignment of the aromatic residues' signals.     

Determining multi‐pesticide residues in teas by dispersive solid‐phase extraction combined with speed‐regulated directly suspended droplet microextraction followed by gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

In this study, an effective speed‐regulated directly suspended droplet microextraction method was developed to condense pesticide residues from teas through dispersive solid‐phase extraction prior to analysis by gas chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. The extractant was intentionally dispersed into the sample solution in the form of globules through high‐speed agitation. This procedure increases the contact area between the binary phases and shortens the distribution equilibrium time. The fine globules reassembled by decelerating stirring speed, the extractant could be taken out for gas chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Recovery studies were performed under optimized extraction conditions by using matrix blanks fortified with pesticides at three concentrations (10, 50, and 100 µg/kg). Over 87% of the recoveries for the analytes in four tea matrices were acceptable given their recovery ranges of 70–120% and relative standard deviations of ≤20%. The limits of quantification of most pesticides were lower than 10 µg/kg and thus satisfied the requirements for maximum residue levels prescribed by the European Community. A total of 38 tea samples from local markets were analyzed by using the proposed method. Results showed that chlorpyrifos was the most frequently detected pesticide in teas. The method is a potential choice for the routine monitoring of pesticide residues in complex matrices.