Behaviour of selected pesticide residues in blackcurrants (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ribes nigrum</Emphasis>) during technological processing monitored by liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

In this experiment, the behaviour of ten pesticides on field-sprayed blackcurrants (Ribes nigrum) after washing, juicing and cooking was investigated. The concentration level changes in two acaricides (fenazaquin, propargite), three insecticides (alpha-cypermethrin, deltamethrin and lambdacyhalothrin) and five fungicides (boscalid, bupirimate, difenoconazole, pyraclostrobin, thiophanate-methyl) were quantified. Analysis was carried out using the QuEChERS method followed by chromatographic analysis based on LC-MS/MS. The matrix effects ranged from —(17.4 ± 8.1) % to (15.9 ± 7.8) %. The limits of detection and limits of quantification were 0.003 mg kg^?1 and 0.01 mg kg^?1, respectively. The mean recoveries of the analytes ranged between 71 % and 109 %. The processing factors of all the blackcurrant products were determined. Washing reduced the pesticide residues up to 71 %. Juicing significantly reduced all the pesticide residues (processing factors (PFs) ranged 0.14–0.47). Cooking resulted in a decrease in residues up to 82 %. The residue levels of alpha-cypermethrin, deltamethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin in blackcurrant jam increased, and PFs > 1 were noted as PF = 1.38, 1.66 and 1.04, respectively. Cluster analysis was performed to find any similarity in the behaviour of pesticides after processing. The results confirmed that solubility, polarity and mode of action could be used to explain differences in the behaviour of pesticides.