Residues of difenoconazole in various ready premixes with propiconazole, cyflufenamid, and mandipropamid in/on tomato fruits

Abstract

Residues of the fungicides difenoconazole, propiconazole, cyflufenamid, and mandipropamid were determined in tomato fruit using acetonitrile for extraction and LC-MS/MS for quantification. Validation criteria include linearity range, the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ), accuracy in terms of precision and trueness, and matrix effect were studied. The recovery rates of the method ranged from 91.8 to 106.3%. The precision of the method in terms of repeatability at one day (RSDr) and between three days (RSDR) ranged from 2.8 to 6.4% and from 4.3 to 7.6%, respectively, with good trueness from 92.2 to 96.4%. Matrix effects (suppression effects) ranged from 3.8% to 11.1%. The validated method was used to evaluate the dissipation kinetics of three different premix formulations: 30% EC (15% difenoconazole + 15% propiconazole), 14% DC (12.5% difenoconazole + 1.5% cyflufenamid), and 50% SC (25% difenoconazole + 25% mandipropamid) used on field tomatoes in Egypt. A first-order kinetic equation best describes residue dissipation. The calculated half-lives of difenoconazole, propiconazole, cyflufenamid, and mandipropamid were 2.01–2.27, 1.89, 1.97, and 1.71 days, respectively. The dissipation rate of difenoconazole did not differ significantly in the three premix formulations. Mandipropamid also dissipated faster compared to the other fungicides tested. The chronic dietary risk assessment results showed a minimal risk to adult Egyptian consumers. Waiting periods were advised for the safe consumption of tomatoes treated with the tested premix formulations.