Ozonation for Pesticide Residue Removal and its Effect on Ascorbic acid, Lycopene, β-Carotene and Phenolic content in Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) Fruits

Detoxification of six pesticides namely chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin, azoxystrobin, hexaconazole, methyl parathion and chlorothalonil on tomato fruits is reported using Kent ozonizer. Ozonation for 15 minutes decreased residues of the test pesticides in the range of 20.18–69.84% and for 30 minutes by 38.78–90.24% as compared to 18.36–69.7% by water washing. Chlorpyrifos was the least removed pesticide whereas chlorothalonil was removed upto 90.24%. Ozonation for 30 min reduced the ascorbic acid (vitamin C), lycopene and β-carotene content of tomato by 24.8, 10.9 and 24.9% respectively. Overall, higher amount of polyphenols was detected in ozonated samples as compared to control. However, individually eleven different polyphenols showed different trends, some increasing on ozonation while the others decreased.