Determination of Neonicotinoid (Nitenpyram, Imidacloprid and Acetamiprid) Pesticides Residues in Five Dried Vegetables by High Performance Liquid Chromatography Muhammad Sajid1*, Muhammad Razzaq1, Zeeshan Ali1, Dilshad Hussain2, Ajaz Hussain1, Ahmad Yar1, Muhammad Hayat1 1 Institute of Chemical Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan 60800, Pakistan; 2 HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi Pakistan ABSTRACT A method using dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE) cleanup followed by QuEChERS with High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) has been established for determination of Neonicotinoid pesticide residues in various vegetables including brinjal, salad leaves, coriander, cabbage and lady finger. Based on an assessment of the HPLC characteristics, validation experiments are conducted for three Neonicotinoid pesticides i.e. Nitenpyram, Imidacloprid and Acetamiprid. In acidified acetonitrile analytical extraction is done with NaCl and MgSO4 followed by activated neutral carbon. The method show good linearity (R2 ≥ 0.999) and relative standard deviation (RSD ≤ 3.36%). Average recoveries of three insecticides are in the range of 55% to 82% at spiking levels of 275.68 to 409.3 mg.Kg-1. LOD and LOQ of three Neonicotinoid pesticides are in the range of 2.658 - 3.761 mg.Kg-1 and 8.056 - 11.4 mg.Kg-1. This QuEChERS determination method by HPLC is precise, simple, sensitive, accurate, easy to perform, and diversified at slightly higher concentrations. Moreover, it is very efficient and effective method and it can be utilized for regular monitoring of pesticide residues in drinking, canal and river water to save the life of organisms and to keep the aquatic environment clean. Keywords: Neonicotinoids; Vegetables; High performance liquid chromatography; Limit of detection; Limit of quantification; Relative standard deviation INTRODUCTION Neonicotinoid are fast growing class of insecticides with a distinct mode of action. The commercially available Neonicotinoids are categorized into Acetamiprid, Imidacloprid, and Nitenpyram, which were previously introduced in Japan during 1990s [1]. Neonicotinoid have high affinity for insects and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are widely used to protect crops against a broad range of pests, including aphids, whitefly, trips, and mealy bugs [2-4]. Their high polarity and other physicochemical properties make them useful for a wide range of applications such as seed treatment, soil drench, foliar and stem growth [5-7]. Before harvest, usually pesticides are applied daily to the crops. Therefore, the residual pesticides concentrations on crops immediately after harvest are relatively high. Sales of Acetamiprid, Imidacloprid, and Nitenpyram were $76.7 million in 1998 and accounted for 6.8% of the total insecticides distributed in Japan [8]. Recently, production of crops and applicability of different types of pesticides seem to be parallel. The pesticides should be used in limited extent for safe crops other food stuffs production. Excess amount of pesticide residues on food stuffs after their supplementary use is harmful for all living beings [9-11]. Since, these pesticides affect the functioning of living systems soon after their consumption as food [12,13]. Consequently, the European Community established maximum residue levels (MRLs) for each pesticide on food stuffs according to their toxicity level [14]. To examine the level of pesticides in foodstuffs, efficient analytical procedures are required. In this context, several Journal of Chromatography & Separation Techniques Research Article * Correspondence to: Dr. Muhammad Sajid, Assistant Professor, Institute of Chemical Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan; E-mail: dr.msajid@bzu.edu.pk Received: May 04, 2020; Accepted: May 18, 2020; Published: May 25, 2020 Citation: Sajid M, Razzaq M, Ali Z, Hussain D, Hussain A, et al. (2019) Determination of Neonicotinoid (Nitenpyram, Imidacloprid and Acetamiprid) Pesticides Residues in Five Dried Vegetables by High Performance Liquid Chromatography. J Chromatogr Sep Tech. 11:431. DOI: 10.35248/2157-7064.20.11.431 Copyright: © 2020 Sajid M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. J Chromatogr Sep Tech, Vol.11 Iss.3 No:431 1