Thermochemical degradation investigation of pesticide residues in banana homogenate

As a first-time study, the thermal storage stabilities of pesticides (bifenthrin, carbofuran, diazinon, methomyl, triflumuron, triadimenol, triazophos, and thiabendazole) in banana homogenate were investigated. Pesticides-spiked banana samples were stored at −20 °C (T1), 4 °C (T2), 25 °C (T3), and 40 °C (T4) and the residues were observed from day 0 to day 84. As results, despite being from different pesticide groups, the trend of thermal stability between bifenthrin, triflumuron, and triadimenol had surprisingly similar stability in all conditions, followed by methomyl and thiabendazole in T3 and T4. A similar trend of stability was observed between diazinon and thiabendazole, both of which are organophosphate pesticides. Carbofuran, on the other hand, had a completely different thermal stability trend when compared to others, with >70% carbofuran residue remaining in T1, T2, and T3. The theoretical stability period was measured only for diazinon, triazophos, and thiabendazole because of a significant correlation (>0.6) obtained from Arrhenius plot.