Investigation of aflatoxins levels in commercial dried figs from western Turkey

The aim of the present work was to investigate aflatoxins in dried figs from Izmir, Turkey. A total of 1,973 samples of dried figs were obtained from retail shops and public outlets from 2014 to 2018. Aflatoxin contamination was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) following clean-up by immunoaffinity (IAC). The obtained results were evaluated against the maximum limit set by the Turkish Regulation and European Commission for total aflatoxins (AF(S)) and aflatoxin B-1 (AFB(1)). The number of samples exceeding the legal limit was 40 according to the Commission Regulation (EU) No 1058/2012 for the limit of aflatoxin B-1 (6 mu g/kg), and 42 samples exceeded the legal limit for the total aflatoxin content (10 mu g/kg). Thirty-four and forty-two samples of dried figs exceeded the legal limit for AFB(1) and AF(S) (8 and 10 mu g/kg, respectively) based on the Turkish Food Codex. (C) All Rights Reserve

EVALUATION OF PESTICIDE RESIDUES IN BRINED VINE LEAVES BY LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY COUPLED TO TANDEM MASS SPECTROMETRY

In the present study, 327 pesticide residues in 666 brined vine leaves collected from the Aegean Region in Turkey during 2014-2016 were quantitatively analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) after a multiresidue extraction procedure, named the QuEChERS method. The obtained results were evaluated according to maximum residue limits (MRLs) for each pesticides by the Turkish Food Codex (TFC) and European Commission (EU) MRLs. 173 of the samples contained detectable residues at, above, or below TFC MRLs, and 124 of the samples contained pesticide residues above TFC MRLs. Azoxystrobin, boscalid, cypermethrin, difenoconazole, imidacloprid, metalaxyl, metrafenone, myclobutanyl, penconazole, pyraclostrobin, pyrimethanil and triadimenol were mostly found. Azoxystrobin was the residue that most exceeded the TFC MRLs, and metalaxyl was the most frequently found residue in brined vine leaves

Determination of Polar Pesticides Based on a Modified QuPPe with Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Tandem Mass Spectrometry

An analytical approach for determining polar pesticides using a Hypercarb column that is based on a modified quick polar pesticide (QuPPe) extraction process combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was examined. Maleic hydrazide, glyphosate, glufosinate N-acetyl, glufosinate ammonium, fosetyl Al, ethephon, chlormequat chloride, aminomethyl phosphonic acid N-acetyl, aminomethyl phosphonic acid, cyanuric acid, ethylene thiourea, phosphonic acid, propylene thiourea, and acidified methanol solution were used to extract tomato, wheat, olive, sunflower, and herbal tea samples. The amount of solvent, extraction period, and mobile phases used in the experiment were all changed; the analysis included various stationary phases. The method was validated in five matrices spiked at 0.01 and 0.05 mg/kg in accordance with the EU guidance document SANTE/11312/2021 method performance criteria, using six replicates for each concentration for one individual. The limit of detection and limit of quantification (LOQ) values were determined and found to range from 1.82 to 2.44 and 6.07 to 8.13 mg/kg. For all spike levels studied, the approximate recoveries for the pesticides ranged from 85 to 118%, with RSD values of less than 20%. Plant-origin foods from diverse field experiments were effectively processed using the validated approach. This newly developed analytical process can meet the stringent requirements for plant-origin food analysis