Multiresidue Method for Targeted Screening of Pesticide Residues in Spice Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) by Liquid Chromatography with Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A QuEChERS technique–based sample preparation method was optimized and validated in small cardamom to monitor the residues of 154 pesticides by LC with tandem MS. The proposed multiresidue method involved soaking powdered cardamom (2 g) in water (8 mL) for 30 min, followed by extraction with acetonitrile (10 mL). Cleanup by dispersive SPE was performed using primary secondary amine (25 mg/mL), C18 (25 mg/mL), and anhydrous magnesium sulfate (150 mg/mL). The method was validated as per the SANTE/11945/2015 guidelines at 5, 10, 50, and 100 ng/g spiking levels, and most of the analytes showed recoveries between 70 and 120% (with RSDs ≤20%). The LOQ of ≤10 ng/g was achieved for almost 90% of the target pesticides. The measurement uncertainties were evaluated at 100 ng/g, and the global uncertainty values were below 22% for all the analytes.