Study of Pesticides Residues in Strawberry Fruits Collected from Major Producing Governorates in Egypt

Strawberry is an important crop in Egypt. It’s been bombarded with tones of pesticides to control various insects and pathogens. In the present study, pesticides residues were evaluated in strawberry samples that collected from different places, El-Beheira (Al-Nubaryia, Al-Mahmoudia, and Bader cities), El-Minofyia, and Ismailyia Governorates. Pesticides residues were extracted and cleaned up with QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) method. Then extracts were analyzed with GC-MS to determine the pesticide residue levels. Results showed that the average recovery percentages ± relative standard deviation (RSD) of pesticides from fortified strawberry samples ranged from 91.7±4.6 to 102.1±5.2% and 92.8±6.2 to 102.3±4.0% at 0.1 and 1 μgL, respectively. Residue levels of boscalid, p,p-DDD, and propiconazole pesticides in strawberry samples from Bader city were 5.000, 0.104, and 0.048 mgKg, respectively. Endrin and propiconazole residue levels were detected in samples from El-Minofyia city at 0.098 and 0.038 mgKg, respectively. On the other hand, Propiconazole residues were found in all strawberry samples from the five locations under investigation. Residues of detected pesticides were less than their corresponding maximum residue limits of European Union (EU-MRLs) that highlight the safety of marketed strawberry for Egyptian consumers.