Analysis of organo-chlorine pesticides residue in raw coffee with a modified “quick easy cheap effective rugged and safe” extraction/clean up procedure for reducing the impact of caffeine on the gas chromatography–mass spectrometry measurement

The control of pesticide residues on raw coffee is a task of great importance due to high consumption of this beverage in Italy and in many other countries. High caffeine content can hamper extraction and measurement of any pesticide residue. A tandem extraction protocol has been devised by exploiting the quick easy cheap effective rugged and safe (QuEChERS) scheme for extraction, coupled to a dispersive liquid–liquid micro-extraction (DLLME) in order to drastically reduce caffeine content in the final extract. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) has been used for quantification of organo-chlorine pesticides in single ion monitoring (SIM) mode. Method has been validated and performances meet the criteria prescribed by European Union regulations.