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Residual Pesticides Analysis in Plant-Based Meat
by GC-MS/MS
Simple sample preparation procedure for high sensitivity analysis
Ready-to-use method with optimized MRM ion transitions from Shimadzu Smart Pesticides Database
Elgin Ting, Cynthia Lahey
Shimadzu (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd.
GCMS-TQ
TM
8050 NX
Introduction
Plant-based meats are artificial meats that are created using
plants as the main ingredient to look and taste like real meat.
Plant-based meats are healthier and tend to have less
environmental impact than real meats [1]. With more awareness
of healthy lifestyles and climate change, the possibility of
switching to a plant-based meat diet may increase in the near
future.
Plant-based meats are made of ingredients from plants, such as
grains, legumes, vegetable proteins and vegetable oils.
Pesticides are frequently used in farms to control weed growth
and insect infestation in plants. Residual pesticides remain in
the plants will cause health issues when consumed [2][3]. As
such, residual pesticides are a food safety concern in plant-
based meats. Hence, the detection and quantitation of
pesticides in plant-based meats are crucial to ensure the food is
safe for consumption.
This study describes a triple quadrupole GC-MS/MS method
coupled with Shimadzu Smart Pesticides Database
TM
Ver.2. 2 for
screening targeted pesticides in four different types of plant-
based meats. QuEChERS is used for sample extraction and
clean-up.
Experimental
Analysis condition
GCMS-TQ8050 NX with AOC-20i/s Plus (Shimadzu Corporation,
Japan) was used in this work. GCMS-TQ8050 NX is equipped
with a highly efficient detector and patented ion source
technology for ultra trace analysis, which is suitable for this
application.
Analytical conditions, MRM transition ions and collision energies
(CEs) used were obtained from the Shimadzu Smart Pesticides
Database Ver.2.2. The Smart Pesticides Database is a database
that contains a list of 530 residual pesticides (including internal
standards), supplied with retention indices which allows simple
method creation for MRM or SIM mode analysis of residual
pesticides in food.
Standard and sample preparation
All the targeted compounds were mixed and diluted with
acetonitrile to a concentration of 1 mg/L. The standard was then
diluted with matrix solution (solution collected after sample
preparation) to concentrations of 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50
pg/µL for matrix-match calibration curves.
The sample preparation procedure is shown in Figure 1,
according to EN 15662, with some modifications. An additional
step of spiking the standard is required for recovery check after
adding 10 mL of acetonitrile.
Two microliters of standard and sample solutions were injected
to the GC-MS/MS for subsequent analysis.
Table 1: GC-MS/MS analytical conditions for analysis of residual
pesticides in plant-based meat.
Instruments and Column information
GC-MS/MS GCMS-TQ8050 NX
Auto Injector AOC-20i/s Plus
Column
SH-I-5Sil MS (P/N 221-75954-30)
30 m x 0.25 mm ID x 0.25 µm df
GC-MS/MS parameter
GC-MS/MS Method No. 3 from Smart Pesticides Database Ver.2.2
(P/N 225-45235-91)
Weigh 10 g sample and add 5 mL of milli-Q water
Add 10 mL of acetonitrile (For recovery check, the standard should be
spiked after adding acetonitrile)
Shake vigorously for 1 min
Add Restek Cat.# 25852 (6 g MgSO
4
and 1.5 g NaOAc) and shake the tube
for 1 min
Centrifuge at 3000 rpm for 5 min
Aliquot the top layer into centrifuge tube and freeze the fat overnight
Take out the centrifuge tube from the freezer and immediately centrifuge
at 3000 rpm for 2 min
Transfer 1 mL of extract (do not take the fat) in Restek Cat.# 26216 (150 mg
MgSO
4
, 25 mg PSA, and 25 mg C18-EC ) and shake the tube for 30 Sec
Centrifuge at 3000 rpm for 5 min
Filter the solution into GC 1.5 mL vial
Inject 2 µL into GC-MS/MS for measurement
Figure 1: Workflow for sample preparation of plant-based meat
