Cyclodextrin-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction based on solidification of floating organic droplets coupled with HPLC for the determination of pyrethroid residues in cereals

Abstract A simple, rapid, and environmentally friendly sample preparation method for pyrethroids determination in cereals using cyclodextrin-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction based on solidification of floating organic droplets coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography was established. The cereal samples were extracted with acetonitrile, cleaned up, and concentrated by green extractant menthol via γ-cyclodextrin assisted extraction process. The extractant menthol dispersed as fine droplets in the cyclodextrin solution and then solidified at room temperature for efficient extraction and convenient collection. The optimized method provided good linearity in the range of 0.01–10 mg kg−1 with limits of detection of 3.5–9.5 μg kg−1. The fortified recoveries of three pyrethroids (i.e., lambda-cyhalothrin, deltamethrin, and bifenthrin) in four cereals (i.e., rice, wheat, maize, and millet) at three levels were in the range of 77.6–101.6% with relative standard deviations of 0.6–6.6%. Overall, the proposed method can be successfully applied for the determination of pyrethroids in cereals.