Research Status in the Use of Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) to Detect Pesticide Residues in Foods and Plant-Derived Chinese Herbal Medicines

Table 2

Comparison of advantages and disadvantages of methods used to detect pesticide residues.

Detection methods	Advantages	Disadvantages
GC-MS/MS	Good sensitivity, accuracy and precision, high analysis efficiency, and wide application range	Unsuitable for analysis of compounds that are strongly polar, nonvolatile, or thermally unstable; expensive instrumentation
LC-MS/MS	Wide analysis range; able to analyze compounds that GC-MS/MS cannot	Complicated, cumbersome, and expensive instrumentation
TLC	Rapid detection and low cost; simple and portable instrumentation; strong selectivity	Low sensitivity and poor separation ability
UV-Vis	High sensitivity, simple operation; can simultaneously analyze multiple compounds	Potential for spectral interference caused by overlapping spectral lines; relatively low selectivity
NIR	Wide application range, can provide structural information	Not suitable for analyzing water-containing samples; data analysis is complex
THz	Rapid and nondestructive detection	Instrumentation is cumbersome and expensive; low detection sensitivity
Raman	Rapid detection, simple and portable instrumentation; provides “fingerprints” of target substances	Weak spectral signal; poor sensitivity and precision
SERS	Fast detection; portable instrumentation with simple operation; high sensitivity	Easily disturbed by external factors; low stability of quantitative calculation models