A Modified High Performance Liquid Chromatographic Analysis of Thiabendazole in Fruits and Vegetables with Elisa Confirmation

Abstract

A rapid modified high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for the analysis of the benzimidazole fungicide thiabendazole (TBZ) in fresh produce. Changes were in the extraction technique and HPLC mobile phase. TBZ was extracted from the produce by either polytroning 10 g in 20 mL of methanol for 3 minutes or shaking, by hand, a 5 or 10 g sample in 20 mL of methanol for 10 minutes. A 50 μL aliquot was injected directly into an isocratic fluorescent HPLC system. Total analysis time ranged from 8 to 15 minutes per sample depending upon the extraction procedure employed. Percent recoveries averaged 90% with excellent reproducibility (%CVs from 0 to 18). For enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) confirmation a 0.1 mL aliquot of the sample was removed and evaporated to dryness under air. The residue was dissolved in water before performing the ELISA.