Pesticides Residues In Passifloras Crops In Colombian High Production Regions

As one of the most bio-diverse countries in the world, Colombia boasts a wide diversity of highly palatable tropical fruits. Even though Colombian fruit production has primarily targeted the domestic market, several fruit species, such as passion fruit, are steadily gaining ground in the broader international arena. Many Colombian smallscale farmers use pesticides for pest and disease control, in order to increase crop's production to respond to domestic and international raising of demand. Inadequate use of pesticides could possibly entail public health risks, environmental contamination and ultimately interfere with international trade. Surveys were carried out to producers of three species of passiflora crops (yellow passion fruit, sweet passion fruit and purple passion fruit) from the largest producers municipalities in Colombia. Ramdomly sampling was realized and samples were analyzed by multiresidue analysis methodology validated in the laboratory and based on IAEA-QuEChERS method. With the results of survey and laboratory analysis it is showed the presence of pesticide residues that exceed maximum residue limits in some samples and the pesticides identified in the samples correspond to those used by farmers. It was found that the presence of residues is mainly due to shortcomings in application of agricultural products no registered for such crops.