Assessment of four pesticide residues (diazinon, imidacloprid, primicarb and acetamiprid) in cucumber under greenhouse condition of Iran (Fars province)

The appearance of pesticides in agricultural products is a serious concern for consumers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the amount of pesticides in cucumber in Fars province. The process of work was that 64 samples of fresh cucumber were analyzed for the presence of 4 pesticides (diazinon, imidacloprid, primicarb and acetamiprid) using the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe (QuEChERS) multi-residue extraction, followed by high performance liquid Chromatography-Diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). The residual behavior of diazinon (60%EC), primicarb (50% WP) imidacloprid (35% SC) and acetamiprid (20% SP) in cucumber under the greenhouse condition was studied. The cucumbers were randomly sampled after 2 (initial), 5, 10 and 14 days period after pesticides application.
Both of acetamiprid and primicarb were found to be more persistent in cucumber compared with the other two tested pesticides; data also reported that the lowest residue (level 2.06 and 2.12 mg.kg-1)in cucumber was detected 14 days after application of acetamiprid and primicarb, while the lowest residue of diazinon and imidacloprid was 0.24 and 1.16 mg.kg-1 within 14 days. All tested residues dissipated 21 days after application in cucumber.