Liquid chromatographic determination of the herbicide diuron and its metabolite 3,4‐dichloroaniline in asparagus

Abstract

A liquid chromatographic method is presented for the determination of the phenylurea herbicide diuron and its major metabolite, 3,4‐dichloroaniline in asparagus. The method involves a simple isolation step using dichloromethane extraction, followed by reversed phase chromatography on a C ₁₈ column, using a basic aqueous‐organic eluent and UV detection at 254 nm. The limit of determination is 0.02 mg/kg for both analytes.