Studying the Effect of Household-Type Treatment and Processing on the Residues of Ethion and Profenofos Pesticides and on the Contents of Capsaicinoids in Green Chili Pepper Using GC-MS/MS and HPLC

The first aim of this study was to create, test, and apply a quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method, based on acetonitrile extraction, for simultaneous determination of pesticide residues in green chili pepper (fresh and dried forms). There is a group of 86 repeatedly detected pesticides in the agricultural food commodity in Al-Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. The suggested method is utilizing GC-MS/MS for simultaneous determination of those 86 pesticides. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) for each pesticide was set as the lowest fortification level that achieved acceptable recoveries in the range 70–120% with precision (RSD ≤ 20%). The results indicated that two organophosphorus pesticides, ethion and profenofos, in the analyzed chili pepper samples have significantly exceeded the European maximum residual limit (MRL) for pesticides. The second purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of some different household-type treatment and processing procedures on the detected pesticide residues and on capsaicinoids (particularly, capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin) which are responsible for the pungency of chili pepper, using GC-MS/MS and HPLC. Some recommendations were concluded for the best practices.