Contributing effect of various washing procedures and additives on the decline pattern of diethofencarb in crown daisy, a model of leafy vegetables

Degradation of Pesticide Residues in Water, Soil, and Food Products via Cold Plasma Technology

Water, soil, and food products contain pesticide residues. These residues result from excessive pesticides use, motivated by the fact that agricultural productivity can be increased by the use of these pesticides. The accumulation of these residues in the body can cause health problems, leading to food safety concerns. Cold plasma technology has been successfully employed in various applications, such as seed germination, bacterial inactivation, wound disinfection, surface sterilization, and pesticide degradation. In recent years, researchers have increasingly explored the effectiveness of cold plasma technology in the degradation of pesticide residues. Most studies have shown promising outcomes, encouraging further research and scaling-up for commercialization. This review summarizes the use of cold plasma as an emerging technology for pesticide degradation in terms of the plasma system and configuration. It also outlines the key findings in this area. The most frequently adopted plasma systems for each application are identified, and the mechanisms underlying pesticide degradation using cold plasma technology are discussed. The possible factors influencing pesticide degradation efficiency, challenges in research, and future trends are also discussed. This review demonstrates that despite the nascent nature of the technology, the use of cold plasma shows considerable potential in regards to pesticide residue degradation, particularly in food applications.

Effectiveness of Different Washing Strategies on Pesticide Residue Removal: The First Comparative Study on Leafy Vegetables

Leafy vegetables are used in various cuisines worldwide; however, as they cannot be peeled and their leaf surface area is large, the risk of retaining pesticide residues on these vegetables is relatively higher than on others. To our knowledge, this is the first comparative study to reveal the effect of removing pesticide residues from five artificially contaminated leafy vegetables (lettuce, perilla leaves, spinach, crown daisy, and ssamchoo (Brassica lee ssp. namai)) using different removal methods. The percent reduction range for each method was 43.7−77.0%, and the reduction range for the five leafy vegetables was 40.6−67.4%. Lettuce had the highest reduction (67.4 ± 7.3%), whereas ssamchoo had the lowest reduction (40.6 ± 12.9%). Spinach and crown daisy showed no significant difference in their reductions. Based on reduction by method, running water (77.0 ± 18.0%) and boiling (59.5 ± 31.2%) led to the highest reduction, whereas detergent (43.7 ± 14.5%) led to the lowest reduction. The reductions of chlorfenapyr, diniconazole, indoxacarb, fludioxonil, pyraclostrobin, and lufenuron in the leafy vegetables were lower with blanching and boiling than with other methods (p < 0.05). These results highlight the importance of thoroughly washing leafy vegetables to lower the intake of pesticide residues before cooking.