Persistence of azoxystrobin and difenoconazole in tomato fruits following application of ready mix formulation and decontamination by household processing

The persistence and dissipation of azoxystrobin and difenoconazole following application of a new ready mix formulation in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) fruits was investigated. The ready mix formulation was applied at 50% fruiting stage using Knapsack sprayer on tomato variety “HS-102” grown in research farm at the Department of Entomology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. The analytical method showed satisfactory mean recovery, precision and linearity and therefore accepted for analysis. Residue quantification was done using Shimadzu GC-ECD. The dissipation kinetics revealed to be of 1st order with half-lives of 3–5 days for azoxystrobin and 1–3 days for difenoconazole. A significant influence of various culinary processes was observed in minimizing the residues of both fungicides from tomatoes. Washing and peeling followed by boiling were found quite effective in reducing the residue load. Soil collected at harvest time was found free from residues of both the fungicides.