Determination of residues of trichlorfon and dimethoate on guava using HPLC

A supervised trial was conducted in guava orchards during 2001 and 2002 to study residue dissipation rates of two organophos insecticides, trichlorfon and dimethoate at Kohat, NWFP, Pakistan. The insecticides were sprayed at recommended doses of 80 and 120 g a.i./100 l water on the fruits of guava when the fruits were semi ripe. The treated guava fruits were randomly sampled in triplicates (2 kg per field replicate) at 0, 3, 7, 14, and 21 days intervals after insecticide application. The samples were extracted in ethyl acetate and were cleaned up through Florisil column with ethyl acetate as eluent. The cleaned up extracts were analyzed for residues by HPLC method. The residues were found to have half-lives of 2.8–3.3 days for dimethoate and 1.7–2.0 days for trichlorfon. Based on the dissipation pattern of the insecticide residues in relation to their respective prescribed maximum residue limits, withholding periods of 3 and 9 days are suggested for guava after treatment with dimethoate and trichlorfon.