Identification and quantification of pesticides residues in health and herbal products purchased from Saudi markets

Background: Herbal products are consumed by approximately 80% of the world population owing to its beneficial effects to humanʼs health.

Importantly, these products are from natural sources or have “Natural” in their labeling and so there are general presumptions of their safety and quality. However, there are literature data showing that herbal products could potentially be contaminated through many ways.

Objective: The study aimed to determine the pesticides residues in herbal products purchased from Saudi markets.

Materials and Methods: 41 products were extracted using QuEChERS, and then analysed using LC-MS/MS to determine 232 pesticide residues. Observed pesticides were compared to regulations of USP and SFDA.

Results: Results showed that pesticides residues were detected in 26.8% of the examined samples in concentrations ranging from 25.3 to 493.2 µg/kg.

Moreover, 6 different pesticides residues were identified in the tested products as illustrated in [Table 1].

Table 1 Pesticide residues detected in herbal products analyzed in SFDA Laboratory.

Most repetitive compounds	Frequency (%)	Frequency (n)	Concentration Range (µg/kg)		LOQ (µg/kg)	LOD (µg/kg)
Carbendazim	23.1	3	25.290	161.210	25.000	8.000
Imidacloprid	30.8	4	44.980	251.730
Propoxur	15.4	2	60.140	389.780
Isoprocarb	15.4	2	106.280	244.260
Metolcarb	7.7	1	72.160
Cymoxanil	7.7	1	493.21
Total	100.0	13

Imidacloprid occurred most frequently in 4 samples, there are 2 samples has more than one pesticide residues while sample code 31 has the highest concentration of pesticide (493.2 µg/kg).

Finally, our findings revealed that all detected analytes were not in the “Herbal and Health Products” regulation in the SFDA and the (USP) which only determined 70 pesticides.

Conclusion: it is necessary to expand the SFDAʼs regulatory program for herbal products to cover as many possible pesticides as possible and to carry out frequent safety examinations of these herbal products, and demanding companies to conduct pesticide detection testing for finished herbal products.

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
12. Dezember 2022