An Eco-friendly Magnetic Solid-Phase Extraction Method for the Determination of Pendimethalin and Fenarimol Pesticides in Fruit Juices by HPLC-DAD

Abstract Ensuring food safety necessitates the development of sensitive, reliable, and environmentally sustainable analytical methods for pesticide residue determination. An efficient chromatographic approach was developed for trace quantification of pendimethalin and fenarimol by combining a newly synthesized magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) sorbent, Fe 3 O 4 @APTES-uric acid, with high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). Critical extraction parameters, including sample pH, elution solvent type and volume, and desorption conditions, were systematically optimized to maximize recovery and analytical performance. Under optimized conditions, fenarimol and pendimethalin were monitored at 202 nm and 239 nm, respectively. The method showed excellent sensitivity, with limits of detection of 3.22 ng mL⁻ 1 for fenarimol and 3.32 ng mL⁻ 1 for pendimethalin. The applicability of the proposed MSPE–HPLC-DAD method was successfully demonstrated through the analysis of commercial fruit juice samples, yielding satisfactory recovery values and confirming the method’s accuracy and robustness. Good precision was obtained via relative standard deviation values below 5.8% for target molecules. The practical applicability and environmental impact of the method were evaluated using the Blue Applicability Grade Index (BAGI) and the Metric for Green Analytical Procedures Index (MoGAPI). The method achieved scores of 72.5 and 80, respectively, reflecting good suitability for routine analysis and high environmental performance. Graphical Abstract