Screening some samples of domestic and imported fruits and vegetables for the presence of pesticide residues in Erbil market

Abstract EN

A total of 162 samples of three types of domestic and imported fruits and vegetables were obtained from Erbil wholesale market namely cucumber, green apples as well assweetbellpeppers.

Samples were collected in six batches.

Three samples were collected from each batch at one week interval starting September 27 through November 01, 2014.

Each crop consisted of three groups, one domestic, one imported from Turkey and one group imported from Iran represented by 18 samples (3 X 6) for each group.

Samples were collected every Saturday morning, transported immediately to the lab; all 27 samples were tested the same day.

Results were accumulated until the end of the study on November 01, 2014 then analyzed.

Neogen Residue Screening Kits called Agri-Screen Ticket (Prod.

# 8920) was ordered directly from Neogen Corporation (MI, USA).

The kits were used for screening to detect the presence /absence of groups of pesticide residues in the selected samples.

This kit is AOAC approved and is capable of detecting the presence of all majorpesticides like Organophosphates, Carbamates&Pyrethroids at detection levels equal to the safe levels internationally permitted.

The results showed that Turkish crop of all three products had the highest rate of pesticide residue presence.

It was followed by Iran and local crop.

The percentage of positive samples for green apples from Turkey and Iran collectively was 83.3% which was equal to the positive rate in domestic crop.

Only 16.7% were found to be negative (i.e.

safe to eat).Imported and domestic cucumbers were found to be less contaminated as the positive samples represented 16.7% (i.e.

83.3 safe to eat).

Domestically grown bell peppers showed a very high rate of positive (66.7%) compared to the imported bellpeppers which had only 16.7% rate of positive samples containing pesticide residue.

In total, the overall result showed, based on the samples tested, that the domestic crop had higher rate of contamination with pesticide residue.

This might be due to lack of education, training, or simply lack of sense of responsibility.This method was found to be rapid, easy and reliable, suitable for quick screening for pesticides for regulatory purposes and risk assessment.