Pesticide residues in orange fruit from citrus orchards in Nuevo Leon State, Mexico

ABSTRACT

Some international organisations established maximum residue limits (MRLs) in food to protect human health. Mexico lacks regulations in this matter, affecting national and international trade from agroindustry. The aim of this study was to diagnose pesticide residues in oranges from Nuevo Leon, México, in citrus orchards. In May 2014, 100 orange fruit samples were taken randomly from orchards and subjected to analysis for 93 pesticides at residual level by GC/QQQ-MS and LCQ-TOF-MS. Results showed the presence of 15 pesticide residues in the samples. The comparison of the residual levels of pesticides found in orange samples among the MRLs allowed by USA, EU and Japanese regulations demonstrated that all samples were below MRLs issued by USA and Japan. Some orange samples were above MRLs issued by the EU. This provides a basis to establish strategies in order to satisfy International Standards to protect human health and encourage Food Safety in Mexico.

KEYWORDS:

• Citrus
• pesticides
• MRLs

Acknowledgement

Thanks to the Comite Estatal de Sanidad Vegetal Nuevo Leon by their support to access at the citrus orchards.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Fundacion PRODUCE Nuevo Leon, A.C. is a civil association sponsored by Mexican government to suppport the agriculture in Nuevo Leon state, the official page is: http://www.fupro19.org.mx/