Determination of Pyrethroid Insecticides in Crude and Canned Vegetable Samples by Supercritical Fluid Chromatography

A supercritical fluid chromatography method for the determination of seven pyrethroid insecticides (allethrin, resmethrin, phenothrin, permethrin, tetramethrin, cypermethrin, deltamethrin) and one of their common metabolites, phenoxybenzyl alcohol, in whole and peeled potatoes and mixed vegetables was developed. The efficiencies of the two extraction techniques, supercritical fluid extraction and microwave-assisted extraction, for the extraction of pyrethroids from vegetable samples were also compared. The retention times of various pyrethroids ranged from 8.4 to 22.9 min, while all of the peaks were well-resolved and distinctly identified. The limits of detection of pyrethroid insecticides ranged between 0.31 and 0.54 ppm, whereas the limits of detection of phenoxybenzyl alcohol was 0.62 ppm. The recoveries of pyrethroid insecticides from whole potatoes, peeled potatoes, and mixed vegetables ranged as 93.83–99.8%, 92.3–105.8%, and 93.67–102.7%, respectively, with the use of supercritical fluid extraction. The corresponding recovery ranges while using microwave-assisted extraction were 94.2–102%, 96.6–101.2%, and 96–103.2%. These findings suggested that supercritical fluid chromatography was a sensitive and rapid technique for the analysis of pyrethroids in complex matrices, such as vegetables, fruits, and other agricultural products.