Waters ACQUITY UPLC and Xevo TQ-S Capable of Rapid Fungicide Detection in Orange Juice Using a Simple 'Dilute-and-Shoot' Procedure

Detection of Carbendazim Residue at Concentrations Below 10 PPB is Possible without Sample Preparation or Pre-Concentration

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Waters Corporation

Jan 23, 2012, 09:58 ET

MILFORD, Mass., Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) today confirmed an analytical technique to rapidly determine residue levels of the fungicide carbendazim in orange juice, with no sample preparation, at regulated levels by taking advantage of the ultra-high sensitivity of Waters^® Xevo™ TQ-S mass spectrometer and ACQUITY UPLC® I-Class system.

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Recent news about the presence of the fungicide carbendazim in orange juice products has drawn wide spread public attention on the safety of the fruit juice. Carbendazim is legally used in Brazil and many other countries for plant disease control, post-harvest food storage or transportation, and seed pre-plant treatment. However, it is not approved for use on citrus fruits in the United States and therefore is not permitted to be present at any concentration in orange juice. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has since responded by holding and testing all shipments of incoming orange juice products from all foreign sources as of January 13th, 2012. Waters scientists have responded rapidly to this challenge by issuing this simplified method of analysis.

"Key to this analytical application is the unrivalled sensitivity of the Xevo TQ-S coupled with the ACQUITY UPLC I-Class which allows scientists to employ a 'dilute-and-shoot' approach to orange juice analysis," said Dr. Paul Young, Senior Director, Food & Environment Business Operations, for the Waters Division. "The obvious benefits of dilute-and-shoot are increases in analysis throughput and reduction in method development time, which is especially valuable to scientists who need to meet urgent analytical requests."

Pesticide residues in fruit juices have always been an important food safety issue, especially taking into account its high consumption of juice by children. Many published methods are capable of analyzing fungicides, including carbendazim, in fruit juices in the low ppb range. However, intensive sample preparation is required in order to remove possible interferences and to enrich the analytes. An approach that requires no sample preparation can be realized because of the ultra-high sensitivity of the Xevo TQ-S MS coupled with ACQUITY UPLC I-Class, and the specificity of a tandem quadrupole MS.

A copy of the published application note is available on the Waters website at:
Direct Injection of Orange Juice for the Rapid Detection of the Fungicide Carbendazim Using ACQUITY UPLC I-Class with Xevo TQ-S.

About Waters Corporation (www.waters.com)

For over 50 years, Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) has created business advantages for laboratory-dependent organizations by delivering practical and sustainable innovation to enable significant advancements in such areas as healthcare delivery, environmental management, food safety, and water quality worldwide.

Pioneering a connected portfolio of separations science, laboratory information management, mass spectrometry and thermal analysis, Waters technology breakthroughs and laboratory solutions provide an enduring platform for customer success.

With revenue of $1.64 billion in 2010 and 5,400 employees, Waters is driving scientific discovery and operational excellence for customers worldwide.

Waters, Xevo, UPLC, ACQUITY UPLC, and ACQUITY are trademarks of Waters Corporation.

SOURCE Waters Corporation