Determination of Acephate, Chlorpyriphos and Malathion Residues in Tomato

Author: P. Vijay Babu*, B. Ratna Kumari, T. Madhumathi, V. Prasanna Kumari and Ch. Sreenivasa Rao

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Abstract

Over the last years, the detection of pesticide residues in the official food safety surveillance programs of India has been increased, mainly in fresh vegetables like tomatoes. The organophosphorus insecticides are frequently applied in tomato cultivation in India. The study was initiated to determine the acephate, chlorpyriphos and malathion residues in tomatoes after harvest with UV-VIS spectrophotometer. The fruit samples were collected two hours after spraying (HAS), 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 days after spraying (DAS). The results of the present study revealed that the tomato fruit samples which were collected at 2 HAS, 1 and 3 DAS (1.464 and 5.911 mg kg-1) showed the acephate and malathion residues to be above maximum residue limits (MRL’s are 1 and 3 mg kg-1) and below MRL at 5 DAS (0.319 and 1.586 mg kg-1). Similarly, the chlorpyriphos residues were detected above MRL (0.5 mg kg-1) in the fruit samples collected up to 5 DAS (1.278 mg kg-1) and the subsequent samples collected at 7

Keywords

UV-VIS Spectrophotometer, acephate, chlorpyriphos, malathion and maximum residue limit.