This study presents unique data on concentrations of antiretroviral drugs, (abacavir, nevirapine, and efavirenz) in the root, leaf, and fruit vegetables. The microwave‐assisted extraction, solid‐phase extraction, and liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection were applied to assess antiretroviral drugs in vegetable samples. The analytical method showed high precision with the linearity (R2) greater than 0.99, with acceptable, and accuracy with recoveries ranging from 85 to 103% for microwave‐assisted extraction and from 87% to 104% for solid‐phase extraction. The limit of detection and quantification ranged from 0.020 to 0.032 μg/kg and from 0.068 to 0.109 μg/kg for microwave‐assisted extraction and from 0.019 to 0.066 μg/L and 0.065 to 0.22 μg/L for solid‐phase extraction, respectively and the repeatability of the methods as relative standard deviation was a less than 6%. The antiretroviral drugs concentration range obtained in vegetable samples is not detected–1.48 ± 0.5 μg/kg for abacavir, not detected–27.9 ± 1.2 μg/kg for nevirapine, and not detected–13.14 ± 0.1 μg/kg for efavirenz. The microwave‐assisted extraction method with solid‐phase extraction cleanup resulted in low concentration compared to microwave‐assisted extraction without cleanup which could be due to its high limits of detection and quantification making it less sensitive. However, the concentration difference was not significant. Root vegetables (beetroot) exhibited high concentrations of antiretroviral drugs, while nevirapine was found to have high concentration and as a dominant compound.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.