Determination of Anthraquinone in Technical Material, Formulations, and Lettuce by High Performance Liquid Chromatography

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 2002-06, Vol.50 (13), p.3632-3636
• Main Authors: Mauldin, Richard E, Primus, Thomas M, Volz, Stephanie A, Kimball, Bruce A, Johnston, John J, Cummings, John L, York, Darryl L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anthraquinones - analysis; Biological and medical sciences; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid - methods; Food industries; Fruit and vegetable industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Lactuca - chemistry; Linear Models; Pesticide Residues - analysis; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; Plant Extracts - analysis; Quality Control; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Solutions; Vertebrates
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/jf0113878

Foraging on lettuce seeds and seedlings by horned larks (Eremophila alpestris) causes millions of dollars in losses to the California lettuce crop annually. Anthraquinone (AQ; 9,10-anthracenedione) has been shown to deter pest birds from consuming the seeds and seedlings of several plant species and was evaluated as a repellent to horned larks when applied to lettuce seedlings. A set of analytical methods using simple liquid extraction followed by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis were developed for the quantitation of AQ as technical material, as an active ingredient in a commercial formulation, and as a residue in lettuce plants. The methods were easy, reliable, and repeatable. AQ recoveries from control formulation fortified to concentrations of either 24 or 600 mg g-1 were 99 (±1.2%) and 98% (±1.2%), respectively, with a control formulation method limit of detection (MLOD) of 0.50 mg g-1. Control lettuce tissues from three growth stages were AQ-fortified to concentrations of 0.50 and 500 μg g-1. The resulting AQ recoveries for the two fortification levels were 99 (±8.5) and 89% (±1.5%) for 11 day old seedlings, 95 (±2.6%) and 86% (2.1%) for 16 day old plants, and 92 (±1.4%) and 93% (±1.1%) for adult head lettuce cover leaves, respectively. The MLODs for the same three lettuce tissues were 0.055, 0.058, and 0.077 μg g-1, respectively. These methods were used to quantify AQ residues from field-grown, treated lettuce and associated fortified quality control samples. Keywords: Anthraquinone; 9,10-anthracenedione; CAS No. 84-65-1; lettuce; Lactuca sativa; horned lark; Eremophila alpestris; HPLC