Monitoring pesticide residues in dates marketed in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia using a QuEChERS methodology and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

A sensitive, simple and rapid QuEChERS extraction method and liquid chromatography equipped with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) were used to determine 42 pesticides in dates. Acidified acetonitrile and citrate buffer salts were used to extract re-hydrated samples. Acceptable validation performances were achieved, i.e. recovery range of 70-120% and RSD values ≤20% for 42 analytes at three different concentrations:100, 50 and 10 μg/kg. This method was used to analyse 200 date fruit samples (var. Sukkari) collected from different large markets in the Al-Qassim region in Saudi Arabia. Pesticide residues were detected in 36 (18%) of the date fruits samples, and 15 samples (7.5%) exceeded the maximum residue levels. The ruggedness test results showed that this method is robust and suitable for the determination of pesticide residues in dates. Additionally, the results showed that the monitored dates did not have a health impact on consumers in Saudi Arabia during the study period.