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Determination of Six Paraben Residues in Fresh-cut Vegetables Using QuEChERS with Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

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Abstract

In this study, an optimized QuEChERS sample preparation method was developed to analyze residues of six parabens: methyl-, ethyl-, n-propyl-, isopropyl-, n-butyl-, and isobutylparaben in five fresh-cut vegetables (potato, broccoli, carrot, celery, and cabbage) with high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS). Homogenized samples were extracted using acetonitrile, and the extracts were cleaned with the novel sorbent multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). MWCNTs provided 84–94% removal of chlorophyll and lower matrix effects (MEs) compared to commonly used primary-secondary-amine (PSA) sorbent. Selected parabens were separated by HPLC with isocratic elution using acetonitrile and 0.1% (v/v) formic acid solution and determined by triple quadrupole MS/MS. The method validation results showed that recoveries were at 70–120% with RSDs <20%. Calibration curves showed linear responses of six parabens with R 2 > 0.99. Fifty fresh-cut vegetable samples from different farmer markets in Beijing, China were collected to measure the paraben residues, and only one sample was tested positive with methylparaben concentration at 81 μg/kg.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the National Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Risk Assessment Project Plan for 2015 (XHTC-FW-2015-262).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Science, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

    Shuangyu Song, Zihao Zhang, Nan Zou, Ronghua Chen, Lijun Han & Canping Pan

  2. Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 East Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA, 19038, USA

    Yelena Sapozhnikova

Authors
  1. Shuangyu Song
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  2. Zihao Zhang
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  3. Nan Zou
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  4. Ronghua Chen
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  5. Lijun Han
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  6. Canping Pan
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  7. Yelena Sapozhnikova
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Contributions

Both Lijun Han and Canping Pan are corresponding authors, and they contributed equally to the work.

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Correspondence to Lijun Han or Canping Pan.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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The mention of brand or firm name does not constitute an endorsement by the US Department of Agriculture above others of a similar nature not mentioned. USDA is an equal-opportunity provider and employer.

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Song, S., Zhang, Z., Zou, N. et al. Determination of Six Paraben Residues in Fresh-cut Vegetables Using QuEChERS with Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry. Food Anal. Methods 10, 3972–3979 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-017-0970-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-017-0970-7

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