PESTICIDE RESIDUES IN FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Abstract

Oranges andappleswere investigated for fruitssamples while the tomatoes were investigated for vegetable. Thesewere obtained from the Oja Oba market of Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. Pesticide residual concentration were determined using acetonitrile extraction procedure.The quantity of the pesticides was determine instrumentally using Gaschromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Factors investigated include retention time, relative abundance, limit of quantification, polarity, elution time, molecular weight and concentration and maximum residue limit. The result indicated that faster elution was associated with low molecular weight pesticides than the high molecular weight pesticides. Pesticides identified include Chlorothalonil, Chlorpyrifos, Flumioxazin, Diazinone, Heptachlor-epoxideetc.Glycophosphate was found in all the samples, with retention time ranging from 3.100 – 3.425 seconds. The pesticides concentrations in the studied samples ranged from 0.006 ppb in Glycophosphate to 0.090 ppb in Chlorpyrifos andwere found to be below maximum pesticides residue limits as prescribed by FAO/WHO, 1993.