Horticultural Science and Technology 원예과학기술지 ISSN:1226-8763(Print) 2465-8588(Online)

Forchlorfenuron is a plant growth regulator that is currently utilized to accelerate cell division and cell expansion, and promote organ formation and protein synthesis in plants. This experiment was conducted to establish a method for determining forchlorfenuron residues in fruits and vegetables using HPLC-DAD/MS. Forchlorfenuron residue was extracted with acetone from apple, mandarin, green pepper, and kimchi cabbage. The extract was diluted with a large volume of saline water and directly partitioned into dichloromethane to remove the polar co-extractives in the aqueous phase. The extract was purified by optimized Florisil column chromatography. Forchlorfenuron was successfully separated from co-extractives on an octadecylsilyl column in HPLC and quantified by ultraviolet absorption at 265nm with no interference. The accuracy and precision of the proposed method was validated by a recovery experiment of each sample fortified with forchlorfenuron at 3 concentrations per sample in triplicate. Mean recoveries ranged from 75.2 to 94.4% in the four samples. The coefficients of variation were all less than 10%, irrespective of sample type and fortification levels. The limit of quantification of forchlorfenuron was 0.02mg∙kg^-1 as verified by the recovery experiment. A method using LC/MS with a selected-ion monitoring technique was also conducted to confirm the identity of the suspected residue. This method is useful for routine analysis of forchlorfenuron residues in apple, mandarin, green pepper, and kimchi cabbage.