Abstract:

In this study, we studied the changing patterns of residues of chlorothalonil, pyridaben, cypermethrin anddifenoconazole in cowpea during household processing, in order to provide the basis for effective dietary exposureassessment. These pesticides were detected by gas chromatography with electron capture detector (GC-ECD). The resultsshowed that the washing factors of the four pesticides were 0.152–0.722, 0.620–0.903, 0.464–0.922 and 0.581–0.882,respectively, and the cooking factors were 0.077–0.311, 0.194–0.554, 0.198–0.479 and 0.443–0.732, respectively. Theremoval rates of the pesticides residues in cowpea were similar after being fully washed by different methods and thecooking factors were mainly related to the changes in cowpea quality with different cooking methods. It is concluded that thelevels of pesticide residues in cowpea are signif??icantly reduced after being washed and cooked, and it can reflect the situationof food safety more truly. This has a great significance for ensuring food safety when taking processing factors into accountfor risk assessment of dietary intake.

Key words: food processing, pesticide residue, cowpea, processing factor, risk assessment of dietary intake