Research Article Comparison of PSA to Moringa Oleifera Seed Protein as Sorbent in QuEChERS: A Response Surface Methodology Optimization for Extraction of Some Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Food Thapelo Ramalepe , 1 Heidi Richards , 1 Hlanganani Tutu , 1 Yannick Nuapia , 2 Eutil´ erio Cha ´ uque , 3 Imasiku Nyambe , 4 and Luke Chimuka 1 1 Molecular Sciences Institute, School of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag X3, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa 2 Pharmacy Department, School of Healthcare Sciences, University of Limpopo, Turfloop Campus, Polokwane 0727, South Africa 3 Department of Chemistry, Eduardo Mondlane University, P.O. Box 257, Maputo, Mozambique 4 University of Zambia, School of Mines, Institute for Water Research ManageSment Centre, P.O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia Correspondence should be addressed to Luke Chimuka; luke.chimuka@wits.ac.za Received 20 May 2022; Accepted 29 July 2022; Published 13 September 2022 Academic Editor: Saima Q. Memon Copyright © 2022 apelo Ramalepe et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. is work aimed at optimizing the QuEChERS method with PSA and then comparing it with Moringa Oleifera seed protein as a clean-up sorbent for the extraction of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. e response surface methodology approach was used in the optimization. A design of experiment (DoE) was used to investigate the effect of the sample mass (0.5–3 g), centrifuge speed (3400–4000 rpm) and time (5–20 min), the mass of NaCl and MgSO 4 (1 − 3g), and solvent extraction volume (5–10 mL). e analysis was done using GC-ECD and GC × GC TOFMS. e PSA method which was later replaced with Moringa Oleifera seed protein presented optimal values of 3 g of sample, 150 mg PSA, 4000 rpm for 6 min centrifuge conditions, including 2 g NaCl and 2 g MgSO 4 extracted in 10 mL methanol, respectively. Moringa Oleifera seed protein gave better selectivity, and the detection limits ranged between 0.16 and 1.77 μg kg − 1 with RSD values ≤13.32%, respectively. Moreover, recoveries were between 76.2 ± 0.85% and 105.2 ± 2.24%. Application of the developed method in food samples detected some EDCs. is study has shown that Moringa Oleifera seed protein is a promising alternative to PSA in the clean-up of food-related samples using the QuEChERS approach. 1. Introduction e clean-up activity of extracts for chromatographic analysis is the first and far-most critical step for accurate quantification of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish [1]. Over the past 40 years, endocrine-linked diseases and complications have been significantly increasing [2]. is is associated with the presence of many man-made EDCs in the environment that eventually make their way into foodstuff [3,4]. EDCs are categorized as man-made or naturally occurring [5,6]. Man- made EDCs include some chemicals from different classes like plasticizers, pesticides, pharmaceutical compounds, and preservatives often found in detected fruits and vegetables [7]. ey have been linked to interfering with the repro- ductive system [8,9]. For example, exposure to DDT, which is man-made, contributes to an earlier start of puberty and as females get older, the exposure has the potential to extend menstrual cycles and also speed up menopause [10]. In infants and children, the target organs for man-made EDCs are the brain and prostate glands [11]. As a result, it causes neurological and immune system defects [10,12,13]. Other man-made EDCs include bisphenol A (BPA), dioxins, polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), and polychlorinated Hindawi Journal of Chemistry Volume 2022, Article ID 7161318, 13 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/7161318