Determination of 195 pesticide residues in Chinese herbs by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry using analyte protectants

The phenomenon known as "matrix-induced enhancement effect" is not only observed in the analysis of pesticides in food, but also in Chinese herbs. Several approaches have been proposed to overcome the matrix-induced effect, but each method has serious limitations. Compared with standard calibration methods, the procedure with adding analyte protectants offers a more convenient and effective route to solve the problem. In the current study, we have analyzed 195 types of pesticides in Chinese herbs by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and the compounds that are susceptible to matrix effect were picked up and confirmed. In addition, several analyte protectants were evaluated and the most effective combination was determined. D-ribonic acid-γ-lactone (2 mg/ml) and D-sorbitol (1 mg/ml) were shown to be the best analyte protectants for the analysis of most pesticides.