September 29, 2025 | Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A |
The study, conducted by Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth in India, examined the dissipation pattern of tebuconazole, a commonly used fungicide in mango production. Ensuring compliance with international pesticide residue limits is essential for India, the world’s largest exporter of mangoes. However, limited field data exist on how tebuconazole residues behave in mango fruits under real cultivation conditions.
A supervised field trial was carried out during the 2022 summer season, where mango trees received three foliar applications at 10-day intervals, using both the recommended rate and a higher dose. Residues were measured in immature fruits with peel, mature fruits with peel, and pulp without peel. Initial residues in immature fruit were 0.241 mg/kg at the recommended rate and 0.305 mg/kg at the higher rate. Dissipation followed a consistent pattern, declining below the 0.01 mg/kg quantification limit by day 15 and day 20, respectively. Estimated half-lives were 4.02 and 4.18 days.
At harvest, residue levels in both mature fruits and pulp remained below 0.01 mg/kg, indicating negligible consumer exposure. Overall, the results show that tebuconazole dissipates efficiently under field conditions, supporting its safe use in mango cultivation and compliance with global export requirements.
