The Determination of Pesticides in Wine

According to the state institute for chemical and veterinary analysis of food, “Conventionally grown wine grapes are one of the crops most extensively treated with pesticides” (CVUA Stuttgart). The use of different fungicides and insecticides is commonplace in vineyards across the world to improve crop yields. Maximum residue levels (MRLs) have been established for grapes in many areas in the world but do not necessarily apply to processed grape products such as wines. The European Union has established MRLs for 65 pesticide residues in table grapes and wine grapes. The most common sample preparation method for pesticide residue analysis is the QuEChERS technique. QuEChERS is a Quick-Easy-Cheap-Effective-Rugged-Safe method that has been developed for the determination of multiple pesticide residues in various agricultural commodities. The rise in popularity of this technique and the increase in sample testing have driven the need for automation to increase productivity and throughput. The AutoMate-Q40 instrument streamlines the QuEChERS method, from adding Acetonitrile (ACN) and buffering salts, shaking, mixing, centrifuging the sample, transferring to a dispersive solid phase extraction (dSPE) tube, and finally measuring and delivering the extract. These advances in automation will greatly improve laboratory production.