To establish an ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (UPLC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous determination of 6-benzylaminopurine, gibberellins and 4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid residues in bean sprouts. MethodsThe samples were extracted with acetonitrile. The extract was cleaned up by a HLB solid phase column. The target compounds were separated by ACQUITY UPLC BEH C₁₈Column (100 mm×2.1 mm, 1.7 μm) with 0.1% formic acid and acetonitrile as the mobile phase, and then analyzed by ultra high performance liquid chromatography using positive and negative simultaneous scan mode and multiple reactions monitoring mode. ResultsThe linearity was satisfactory at concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 20 μg/L with linear correlation coefficient(r²)above 0.99.The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.5 μg/kg.The recoveries of the 3 analytes were in the range of 70.1% to 93.5%, and the relative standard deviations were in the range of 5.01% to 9.34%.ConclusionThis method was sensitive, fast and accurate. Therefore, it couldbe successfully used for the determination of 6-benzylaminopurine, gibberellins and 4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid residues in bean sprouts.