Validation of an Analytical Method for the Determination of Thiabendazole in Various Food Matrices

In many countries, thiabendazole is used as a fungicide to prevent the decay of food and to lengthen storage periods. However, in Korea, thiabendazole is unauthorised and does not have standards or specifications for use as a food additive. In this study, a simple analytical method was developed and validated using the HPLC-PDA method to detect thiabendazole in foods frequently consumed in South Korea. The calibration curve was obtained using samples of solid and liquid foods containing banana and citrus fruits containing concentrations in the range of 0.31-20.00 mu g/mL with a satisfactory coefficient of determination (R-2) of 0.999. The limit of detection (LOD) values for the solid and liquid food samples were 0.009 and 0.017 mu g/mL, respectively, and the limit of quantification (LOQ) values were 0.028 and 0.052 mu g/mL. The intra-day and inter-day precision values were less than 1.33% (relative standard deviation), and the recoveries of thiabendazole from spiked solid and liquid food samples ranged from 93.61 to 98.08% at concentration levels of 2.5, 5, and 10 mu g/mL. In addition, the expanded uncertainties of the measu-rements ranged from 0.57 to 3.12%. These results showed that the developed method was appropriate for the quantitative analysis of thiabendazole in solid and liquid foods containing banana and citrus fruits.

Automated summary

In this study, a simple analytical method using HPLC-PDA was developed to detect thiabendazole in frequently consumed foods in South Korea. The method showed good sensitivity and precision, and was applicable for both solid and liquid food samples.