Florina-Dorina Covaciu

• Identifying the analytical techniques that can be applied in quality control of vegetables and fruits marketed on the Romanian market.

• Development of multi-component analysis methods capable of determining in a single analysis as many pesticides as possible in the shortest amount of time, and at the same time, providing a detection limit as low as possible, in accordance with the concentrations at which these compounds are commonly found in vegetables and fruits.

• Optimization of extraction methods, especially the QuEChERS method for the determination of pesticide residues from complex matrices through gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, and subjecting these methods to a validation procedure with the aim of studying performance, evaluating errors accompanying the determinations and, last but not least, the applicability of this method to the analysis of complex samples (linearity, sensitivity, selectivity, detection limit (LOD), quantification limit (LOQ), specificity, repeatability, reproducibility, relative standard deviation (RSD), precision, and accuracy).

• Testing of real samples with the purpose of determining pesticide residues in vegetables and fruits through gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-ECD, GC-FID, and GC-MS).

• Initiating the first database to contain the isotopic fingerprint of berries from Transylvania, presenting the natural isotopic variations among berries growing in different areas of Transylvania.

• Highlighting the differences that occur between wild berries and cultivated ones, through the corroboration of isotopic, elemental, and chemometric measurements.