Partially carbonized cellulose filter paper as a green adsorbent for the extraction of pesticides from fruit juices

In this study, a new solid phase extraction method based on the use of a low-cost funnel-shaped partially carbonized cellulose filter paper as a sorbent has been developed. The sorbent is easily prepared by heating the folded filter paper wetted with sulfuric acid solution and can be reused for several times. It is combined with dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction and used for the extraction of some pesticide residues from fruit juice samples prior to their analysis by gas chromatography–flame ionization detection. In this work, limits of detection and quantification were in the ranges of 0.30–0.61 and 1.0–2.0 µg L−1, respectively, and relative standard deviations ranged between 3 and 6% for intra– (n=5) and inter–day (n=5) precisions at a concentration of 25 µg L−1 of each pesticide. The enrichment factors of 452–751 were achieved. Extraction recoveries were in the range of 45–75%. The calibration curves had wide linear ranges with a good linearity (coefficient of determination ≥ 0.994). Finally, efficiency of the method was apprised by determining the analytes in fruit juice samples and relative recoveries were found to be in the range of 85–101%.