Towards comprehensive identification of pesticide degradation products following thermal processing below and above 120 °C: A review

From field to table: Reducing residual toxicity and risk of four pesticides via washing and blanching of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.)

The presence of acetamiprid, chlorantraniliprole, thiamethoxam, and cyromazine residues in cowpea raises significant health concerns. This study evaluated pesticide residues through field tests and examined the effects of washing, blanching, and frying on residue removal. Washing for 20-60 s reduced residues by 17.6 % to 67.3 %, while blanching for 1-5 min eliminated 42.5 % to 70.9 %. Conversely, frying increased residues of cyromazine, chlorantraniliprole, and acetamiprid (PF > 1). Notably, washing for 40 s followed by blanching for 2 min effectively removed residues. For cowpea samples exposed to high doses, this combination significantly lowered thiamethoxam, acetamiprid, and chlorantraniliprole levels below the maximum residue limit (MRL). Density functional theory and toxicity estimation software tool analyses indicate that this method also reduces toxicity by degrading parent compounds into less-toxic metabolites. Moreover, even with recommended practices, cyromazine residues exceeded MRLs, highlighting the need for reevaluation. The washing-blanching combination ensures the safety of cowpea consumption.

Simultaneous determination of spiropidion and its five major metabolites in sweet orange fruit and various processing by-products using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

The present work reported the application of an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method for simultaneous analysis of spiropidion and its five major metabolites in sweet orange fruit and by-products throughout the whole industrial juicing process of the orange fruit. The reversed-dispersive solid phase extraction (r-DSPE) with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was employed for the extraction and purification. The established method was validated and satisfactory parameters (linearity, trueness, precision, sensitivity, matrix effect and stability) were obtained. And then, the field trial of spiropidion on sweet oranges has been conducted and the effect of commercial juicing processing on the residue of spiropidion and its metabolites was further investigated. The various processing factors (PFs) for washing, juicing, sterilization, concentrating and essential oil collecting were also determined. The final results indicated that washing processing reduced residues by 18.4%; the juicing step allowed a significant decrease of the spiropidion residue by 34.2-70.8%, with PFs value in the range of 0.290-0.658. However, high level of residual spiropidion (ranging from 4.016 to 4.205 mg/kg) was detected in orange essential oil, with PFs value of 17.157. All the above results demonstrated the efficiency of the established method in the routine control analysis of spiropidion residues in sweet orange fruits and their by-products, and will facilitate the further intensive research on its spatial distribution, transfer and degradation during the different processing procedures of the sweet orange fruits.