Simultaneous determination of 9 succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor compounds in vegetables by QuEChERS combined with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) method was established for the simultaneous determination of 9 succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor (SDHIs) compounds in vegetables. Samples were extracted with 10 ml acetonitrile, then salted out to separate the layers. The supernatant was purified using 30 mg N-primary secondary amine (PSA) and 30 mg octadecylsilane chemically bonded silica (C18) solid phase extraction agent, concentrated under nitrogen and dissolved with ethyl acetate. 9 SDHIs were separated by gas chromatography and ionized by electron ionization (EI) source, while the ion pairs were collected by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The results showed that 9 SDHIs showed good linear relationships within their respective concentration ranges. The correlation coefficient R²>0.994, the limits of detection (LODs) of method ranged 1.00-6.00 μg/kg, while the limits of quantification (LOQs) of method ranged 3.00-20.0 μg/kg. The results of different levels of spiked experiments for 9 SDHIs showed a good recovery rate of 80.4%-98.2% and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 3.0%-7.9%. The method was efficient, fast, easy to operate, with low detection cost, high recovery rate, high sensitivity, and good reproducibility, which was suitable for batch determination of 9 SDHIs in daily vegetables.