tesis doctoral montti - RiuNet - Universidad Politécnica de Valencia

SUMMARY
The blueberry crop became an alternative for export-
oriented production in Argentina. New market requirements related
to product quality containing low levels of pesticides, require
appropriate management of the crop production. Fungal diseases
are the main causes of crop losses, thus the application of
fungicides such as triazoles are needed for control. A series of
processes that change over time the levels of residues on the plant
tissue begins after the pesticides have been applied. The removal
and gradual dissipation depend on many factors such as the
nature of the plant, the chemical properties of the pesticides, time
and conditions during application, weather, etc. The most relevant
is the chemical degradation. The systemic nature of these
fungicides and the rapid maturation of the berries seem to indicate
that the total elimination of residues may not be reached. For these
reasons, evaluating residual levels of these fungicides in fruits and
blueberry juices, and estimation of degradation rates when applied
on crops and under modified atmosphere storage conditions, are
proposed as objectives of the present study. Chromatographic
analysis of pesticides in food usually involve detection of trace
levels of residues, requiring sample pretreatment steps, associated
with potential losses of the analyte during different process stages,
such as extraction, clean up, concentration and diluents for
chromatography injections. In addition, they involve the use of
large volumes of high purity organic solvents, mostly toxic and