| Popis: |
Strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) are widely appreciated fruits due to their intense flavour, bright red colour, juicy texture, and harmonic taste. Additionally, they present a unique combination of various nutrients, phytochemicals, vitamins, and fibres, which play a synergistic role in its characterisation as a functional food with health benefits with regard to antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperlipidemic, antihypertensive, or anti-proliferative effects. Usually they are consumed in large quantities, fresh or processed, and artificial strawberry flavourings and aromas are widely used, as their natural aroma compounds are very sensitive to processing (pre- or post-harvest stages) and storage conditions. On the other hand, strawberries are very susceptible to many pests and diseases, so producers rely on pesticides, which influences the environment, the sustainability of strawberry growing, but also risks to consumer health. Thus, it is of great importance to control and analyse strawberry samples for chemical residues of pesticides with the aim to protect public health and avoid health risks. A multi-residue pesticide method has been developed and validated. Over 200 pesticides were analysed using a simple QuEChERS sample preparation procedure, followed by Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Results of the analysed strawberry samples (n=26) from the Croatian market showed that in 4 samples (15 %) pesticides (Flonicamid, Tebucanozole and Spinosad 2x, respectively) were determined above the maximum residue levels (MRLs) established by EU regulations (Regulation EC no. 396/2005) and implemented by national authorities (OG 80/13, 115/18). This work was funded through the project “Center for Safety and Quality of Food“ supported by the European Fund for Regional Development and the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education (KK.01.1.1.02.0004) as well as the project “Hurdle Technology and 3D Printing for Sustainable Fruit Juice Processing and Preservation” (3D-SustJuice) funded by the Croatian Science Foundation (IP-2019-04-2105). |
