Determination of flubendiamide in honey at trace levels by using solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

In this study, a new method has been developed to determine flubendiamide in honey using liquid chromatography coupled to a selective mass spectrometry detector (quadrupole-time-of-flight). An efficient sample treatment involving a solid phase extraction with a C-18 sorbent was proposed (average analyte recoveries were between 94 and 104%). Chromatographic analysis (9 min) was performed on a C-18 column (Gemini C-18, 50 x 2.0 mm, 3 mu m, 110 angstrom). The mobile phase consisted of water and acetonitrile, with a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min in gradient elution mode. The method was fully validated in terms of selectivity, limits of detection and quantification, matrix effect, linearity, trueness and precision. Low limits of detection and quantification were obtained, ranging from 0.1 to 0.2 mu g/kg and 0.4 to 0.6 mu/kg, respectively. The method was applied to analyze flubendiamide in honey from different botanic origins (multifloral, rosemary and heather). (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.