Analysis of captan, folpet, and captafol in apples by dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction combined with gas chromatography

A novel method was developed for the determination of captan, folpet, and captafol in apples by dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) coupled with gas chromatography-electron capture detection (GC-ECD). Some experimental parameters that influence the extraction efficiency, such as the type and volume of the disperser solvents and extraction solvents, extraction time, and addition of salt, were studied and optimized to obtain the best extraction results. Under the optimum conditions, high enrichment factors for the compounds were achieved ranging from 824 to 912. The recoveries of fungicides in apples at spiking levels of 20.0 mu g kg(-1) and 70.0 mu g kg(-1) were 93.0-109.5% and 95.4-107.7%, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for the apple samples at 30.0 mu g kg(-1) of each fungicide were in the range from 3.8 to 4.9%. The limits of detection were between 3.0 and 8.0 mu g kg(-1). The linearity of the method ranged from 10 to 100 mu g kg(-1) for the three fungicides, with correlation coefficients (r(2)) varying from 0.9982 to 0.9997. The obtained results show that the DLLME combined with GC-ECD can satisfy the requirements for the determination of fungicides in apple samples.