Determination of Ethylene Dibromide in Tropical Fresh Fruits Using Dean-Stark Apparatus and ECD-Gas Chromatography

J Food Prot. 1988 Sep;51(9):727-730. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X-51.9.727.

Abstract

The concentration of residual EDB (ethylene dibromide) in tropical fresh fruits imported to Japan were investigated using the Dean-Stark apparatus and ECD-gas chromatography (ECD-GC) i.e. EDB was distilled into a small amount of n-hexane using a Dean-Stark apparatus and determined by ECD-GC. Recovery of EDB added to papaya pulp at the concentration of 0.1 ppm was more than 98.1% by the proposed method. The relationship between storage conditions and concentration of residual EDB was investigated for mango pulps; it was clarified that EDB content in mango pulps decreased with the storage time at room temperature (25°C) and refrigerated (7°C), but the content did not decrease for 6 d at -20°C. We surveyed the concentration of residual EDB in pulps, peels and seeds of the fresh fruits (grapefruits, papayas, mangos and litchis) imported to Japan in 1987 separately. Extremely high concentrations of EDB were found in the seeds of grapefruits. A similar trend was also observed in other fruits.