Vol. 12, Issue 11 (2023)

Author(s):
Neelam Kumari, Sangita Sood, Prem Chand Sharma and Ranjana Verma

Abstract:
A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of domestic processing techniques on pesticide residues in tomato. Domestic processing techniques viz, washing under tap water for 1, 2 and 3 minutes, dipping in hot water for 2, 4 and 6 minutes and dipping in salt water for 1 minute at the concentration of 1, 2 and 3 percent were selected. Tomatoes were exposed to two pesticides i.e. indoxacarb and lambda-cyhalothrin as per their recommended field dosages. Tomato fruit samples were collected after spray and the estimation of pesticide residues was carried out by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The results of the study revealed that dipping of tomatoes in salt water (3.0%) for one minute was found to be the most effective giving a reduction of 80.06 percent of indoxacarb and 80.40 percent of lambda-cyhalothrin residues followed by hot water dipping for six minutes with respective reduction of 73.52 percent and 64.14 percent and washing under tap water for three minutes (58.49% and 41.40%). On the other hand, least reduction of indoxacarb and lambda-cyhalothrin (32.67% and 26.24%) was observed in tomatoes when washed under tap water for one minute. Processing factors for indoxacarb and lambda-cyhalothrin were also found to be < 1, which concluded a substantial reduction of pesticide residue in samples.