Evaluation of the automated micro-solid phase extraction clean-up system for the analysis of pesticide residues in cereals by gas chromatography-Orbitrap mass spectrometry

•The μ-SPE robotic allows a significant reduction of labor.•The sorbent bed mixture consisting of magnesium sulfate, primary-secondary amine, C18, and CarbonX retains effectively cereal matrix components.•Semi-procedural calibrations can compensate for possible clean-up automation and extraction efficiency errors•The QuEChERS extraction followed by μ-SPE clean-up is quantitatively validated for more than 129 pesticides in cereals.