Abstract:

Food safety has become a growing public concern in the recent years. The harmful pesticide residues in
vegetables have caused considerable interest among the consumers. In this study, the effects of cool storage, washing, and
cooking on the residue levels of seven pesticides and two metabolites in cucumber were evaluated. The results showed that
pesticide residue levels in cucumber decreased during storage at 5 ℃. The percentage degradation of seven pesticides were
in the range of 38.9%?58.3% after 10 days of storage. The percentage degradation of seven pesticides in cucumber washed
with tap water firstly were 27.17%?80.00%, while those of cucumber washed with detergent firstly were 33.33%?90.00%.
The difference in degradation efficiency between the two washing methods was related to water solubility of the pesticides.
The treatments of steaming, boiling, and stir-frying could also effectively reduce the levels of pesticide residues in cucumber.
Boiling provided the optimum pesticide elimination with a percentage degradation of 22.76%?85.00%, followed by stir-frying
with percentage degradation of 21.52%?75.00%, and steaming showed the lowest percentage degradation of 10.13%?53.25%.
In the cooking process, the temperature generated due to cooking is the key factor for pesticide degradation.

Key words: cold storage, washing, cooking, cucumber, pesticide residue