Investigation of functionalized melamine sponges in matrix purification for rapid multiresidue analysis of 43 pesticides in various fruits by UPLC-MS/MS

Matrix adsorbents play a crucial role in the rapid multiresidue detection of pesticides by LC–MS/MS. Herein, we report the development of three functionalized melamine sponges for facile matrix adsorption for rapid analysis of 43 pesticides in five fruits. The matrix purification was optimized to enable rapid operation in seconds via simple soaking and squeezing, eliminating time-consuming centrifugation step commonly required in traditional QuEChERS protocols. Considering the removal efficiencies of pigments, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids, the combined use of these three sponges yielded superior overall matrix purification performance. Good validation results were acquired for all monitored pesticides in terms of good linearities (coefficient of determination ≥0.993), satisfactory recoveries (70.9 %–118.7 %, 70.8 %–120.0 %, and 70.0 %–114.3 % at three spiked concentrations), and relatively low limits of detection (0.02–5 μg·kg −1 ) and limits of quantification (0.05–10 μg·kg −1 ). The functionalized melamine sponges demonstrated prospective application potentials for the rapid and accurate analysis of multiple pesticides in various fruits.