# Enhanced Detection of Organochlorine Pesticide Residues in Sesame Seeds (Sesamum indicum L.) Using Advanced GC‐MS/MS Techniques

## TL;DR

This study improves the detection of pesticide residues in sesame seeds using advanced GC-MS/MS techniques for food safety and trade.

## Contribution

A new, efficient method for detecting 20 organochlorine pesticides in sesame seeds using GC-MS/MS is developed.

## Key findings

- The method showed excellent linearity with regression coefficients (r²) ≥ 0.999.
- Recoveries of spiked pesticides ranged from 93.58 to 115.81% with RSDs under 1%.
- Detection limits (LOD) and quantification limits (LOQ) were 0.05–0.88 μg/kg and 0.16–2.93 μg/kg, respectively.

## Abstract

Considering the economic and edible values of sesame seeds, it is important to monitor sesame seed for the safety of consumers and for international trade as it helps the country government and suppliers as products to gain market acceptance more effectively. The objective of this study was to determine selected organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues in sesame seeds. Quick, easy, cheap, efficient, rugged, and safe method followed by gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (GC‐MS/MS) was used for the rapid separation and determination of 20 OCPs in sesame seeds. Acetonitrile in combination with 1% glacial acetic acid was used as an extraction solvent. Primary secondary amine, graphitized carbon black, and octadecylsilane in QuEChERS kit were used for d‐SPE clean up before GC‐MS/MS analysis. The GC‐MS/MS analysis was evaluated in terms of linearity, recovery, and precision. The calibration curves were obtained for all analytes and displayed good linearity over the selected concentration range with regression coefficients (r
2) ≥ 0.999. The recoveries for spiked analytes in sesame seed samples were ranged from 93.58 to 115.81 with RSDs lower than 1%. The LOD and LOQ for all investigated pesticides were in the range of 0.05–0.88 μg/kg and from 0.16 to 2.93 μg/kg, respectively.