- Acknowledgements: The authors gratefully acknowledge the Coimbra Group for the fellowship provided to E.A. Nantia and the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Project Ref: AGL2015-70708-R, MINECO-FEDER, UE).
- Authors: E. Akono Nantia, D. Moreno-González, F.P.T. Manfo, L. Gámiz-Gracia, A.M. García-Campaña.
- Reference: Food Chemistry 216 (2017) 334-341.
A new reliable, fast and highly sensitive method based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry has been developed and validated for the determination of 28 carbamates in aromatic herbs. A modified QuEChERS-based method was optimized for the extraction of carbamate residues from a wide variety of fresh herbal products. The proposed method allowed recoveries higher than 72%, achieving quantification limits of 2 μg kg−1, therefore below maximum residue limits established for this type of samples. The combination of QuEChERS with UHPLC-MS/MS introduces a high-throughput methodology for the monitoring of these residues in this type of matrices scarcely explored. The analysis of the real samples revealed that several samples sold in the European Union and in the North West region of Cameroon contain pesticides in concentrations below the maximum residue limits.
