Simultaneous determination of chlorantraniliprole and cyantraniliprole in fruits, vegetables and cereals using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with the isotope-labelled internal standard method

A reliable and sensitive isotope-labelled internal standard method for simultaneous determination of chlorantraniliprole and cyantraniliprole in fruits (apple and grape), vegetables (cucumber and tomato) and cereals (rice and wheat) using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was developed. Isotope-labelled internal standards were effective in compensating for the loss in the pretreatment and overcoming the matrix effect. The analytes were extracted with acetonitrile and cleaned up with different kinds of sorbents. The determination of the target compounds was achieved in less than 4 min using a T3 column combined with an electrospray ionization source in positive mode. The overall average relative recoveries in all matrices at three spiking levels (10, 20 and 50 mu g kg(-1)) ranged from 95.5 to 106.2 %, with all relative standard deviations being less than 14.4 % for all analytes. The limits of detection did not exceed 0.085 mu g kg(-1) and the limits of quantification were below 0.28 mu g kg(-1) in all matrices. The method was demonstrated to be convenient and accurate for the routine monitoring of chlorantraniliprole and cyantraniliprole in fruits, vegetables and cereals.