FRESENIUS ENVIRONMENTAL BULLETIN, vol.20, no.8, pp.2002-2006, 2011 (SCI-Expanded)
In this study, a method is described for the determination of malathion (O,O-dimethyl-S-(1,2-carbethoxyethyl) phosphorodithioate) and its metabolite malaoxon (O,O-dimethyl-S-(1,2-carbethoxyethyl) phosphorothioate in cherries. Cherries were extracted in methanol and extract was subjected to a liquid-liquid partitioning and column cleanup to remove the organic coextractives prior to analysis by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The recoveries (+/- standard deviations) from cherry fortified with malathion and malaoxon (5-20 mu g/g) were also determined. The method was used for the simultaneous analysis of malathion and malaoxon in cherries obtained from a cherry orchard in Afyonkarahisar city of Turkey. In this field, cherries had been treated with malathion insecticide, 15 days ago from the harvest. The collected cherry samples were removed from the seeds, homogenized and analysed by HPLC. As adopted by the EU-MRLs Regulation and Turkish Food Codex Regulations, the accepted maximum residue limits (MRLs) of malathion in cherry are 0.02 mg/kg and 0.5 mg/kg, respectively.