Quantification of the Pesticide Residue in Ready-To-Eat Lettuce Produced in Adamawa State, Nigeria for Healthy Nutrition

Abstract

Ready-to-eat lettuce has become popular among residents of Adamawa State nowadays due to its convenience and changing lifestyle. This product may be loaded with both chemical and biological contaminants, either during production or processing, thereby exposing consumers to health risks. There is a need to evaluate the wholesomeness of ready-to-eat lettuce marketed in the state. To achieve this, three Agricultural zones were purposively selected out of the four zones of Adamawa State. One major horticultural market was also purposively selected from each of the three selected zones, and ten samples of ready-to-eat lettuce were sampled from each market. The pesticide analysis was conducted using an HPLC method at the Nutrition Laboratory of Adamawa State University, Mubi. Data collected was subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using IBM SPSS Statistics version 23, and means were separated using Least Significant Difference (LSD) at a 5% level of significance. The results showed that there were significant (P≤0.05) differences in the levels of some of the pesticides. The highest concentration of Bifenthrin (0.0021mgkg-1 ), Hexaconazole (0.0018mgkg-1 ), Metalaxyl (0.0024mgkg1 ), Parathion (0.0014mgkg-1 ), Pyridaben (0.0039mgkg-1 ) and Hexachlorobenzene (0.0020mgkg-1 ) were recorded in Mubi. Numan chronicled the highest values of Azoxystrobin (0.0067mgkg-1 ), Cadusafus (0.0047mgkg-1 ), Chlorfenapyr (0.0057mgkg-1 ), Isoprothiolane (0.0073mgkg-1 ) and Malathion (0.0075mgkg-1 ). However, Yola recorded the highest values of Diazinon (0.0073mgkg-1 ) and Dichlorvos (0.0078mgkg-1 ). The concentration levels of pesticide in Ready-to-eat lettuce produced in the State were below the FAO/WHO Maximum Residues Levels (MRLs) for all the pesticide under study. However, banned pesticide such as Hexachlorobenzene, Dichlorovos and Parathion were found in the fresh-cut lettuce produces in the State at very low concentrations. Thus the Ready-to-eat lettuce marketed in the State is safe for consumption.