A sensitive, specific and high-throughput lc/ms/ms assay to quantify glyphosate in protein, non-protein, and botanical dietary supplements

 

INTRODUCTION

Glyphosate, a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide is one of the most widely used herbicides with the signal word WARNING on the label due to its toxicological concern. The glyphosate is amphoteric, low mass, high water soluble, and does not have a chromophore. It is not easily retained on a reversed-phase HPLC, and detection by UV or flouresence is difficult. Instead, various LC-MS assays were published for different matrices. In this presentation, we show development of a sensitive, specific and high-throughput LC/MS/MS assay for different matrices, including protein, non-protein, and botanical finished goods.

RESULTS

Specificity: The specificity results indicated that there is no interference between analyte and IS and the method is specific.

Linearity: The curce range of 10.0-2,000 ng/mL was successfully validated. The regression is linear with 1/x as the weighing factor. The Correlation Coefficient R2 = 0.99978. The % variance of LLOQ was 5.61% and all other points on the curve do not exceed 6.54%.

Accuracy and Precision: The accuracy and precision were investigated with post-spiking glyphosate in protein placebo, non-protein placebo, and botanical placebo samples at lower sodium and high regions of the established range of the calibration curve.

Stability: Nine days stability has been established for standard solution and extracted samples under room temperature.

CONCLUSION

This is the first-known validated, quantitative assay for glyphosate in protein, non-protein, and botanical dietary supplements.