Evaluating the presence of pesticides in bananas: An integrative review

Hiago de O Gomes; Jorge Marcell C Menezes; José Galberto M da Costa; Henrique Douglas M Coutinho; Raimundo Nonato P Teixeira; Ronaldo F do Nascimento

doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.110016

Evaluating the presence of pesticides in bananas: An integrative review

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2020 Feb:189:110016. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.110016. Epub 2019 Dec 1.

Authors

Hiago de O Gomes¹, Jorge Marcell C Menezes², José Galberto M da Costa¹, Henrique Douglas M Coutinho³, Raimundo Nonato P Teixeira¹, Ronaldo F do Nascimento⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Chemistry, Regional University of Cariri, R. Cel. Antonio Luis 1161, 63105000, Crato, CE, Brazil.
² Department of Biological Chemistry, Regional University of Cariri, R. Cel. Antonio Luis 1161, 63105000, Crato, CE, Brazil; Science and Technology Center, Federal University of Cariri, Av. Ten Raimundo Rocha 1639, 63048080, Juazeiro do Norte, CE, Brazil.
³ Department of Biological Chemistry, Regional University of Cariri, R. Cel. Antonio Luis 1161, 63105000, Crato, CE, Brazil. Electronic address: hdmcoutinho@gmail.com.
⁴ Department of Physical Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Federal University of Ceará, R. Humberto Monte S/N, 60455700, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.

PMID: 31801098
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.110016

Abstract

Introduction: Pesticides are organic compounds widely used in modern agriculture, being relevant for helping plantations and increasing food production. The banana, a fruit with oriental origin, stands out for being widely produced in tropical and subtropical regions which, like other matrices, is susceptible to pest action. This review aims to evaluate the presence of pesticides in bananas according to Brazilian, European and Codex legislation.

Methods: Four databases, ScienceDirect, SciELO, PubMed and Springer, were used to find relevant articles in the literature addressing methods for the determination of pesticide residues in bananas using the terms "banana", "chromatography", "pesticides" and "determination". The search stages included reading abstracts and titles, reading the full text, extracting data and analyzing data from eligible articles. The search was restricted to original research articles published in English from 2008 to 2018.

Results: 404 articles were found from the initial research, with only 15 studies being considered eligible for this review. Mass spectrometry is the most widely used detection technique. 5 articles were seen to use a multiresidue method to analyze only bananas (pulp), and from these, only 2 studies used methods to analyze the pulp and peel. The articles analyzed 172 samples, with 59.3% of these being conducted in Europe, 32.5% being conducted in Asia and only 8.1% in South America. A total of 79.1%, 32.4% and 42.6% of samples were unsatisfactory according to the Brazilian, European and Codex legislation, respectively, with these samples being contaminated with pesticide residues.

Conclusion: This review presents the scarcity of articles aimed at identifying pesticide residues in bananas and the urgency of checking the quality of the fruit that reaches the population. The MRLs allowed by different legislations have clear divergences that do not ensure the lowest concentration values that guarantee consumer safety.

Keywords: Agriculture; Banana; MRL; Pesticide; Review.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Agriculture / legislation & jurisprudence
Agriculture / organization & administration
Food Contamination / analysis*
Food Safety
Fruit / chemistry
Musa / chemistry*
Pesticide Residues / analysis
Pesticide Residues / standards
Pesticides / analysis*

Substances

Pesticide Residues
Pesticides