PHYTOCHEMICAL PROFILING AND ASSESSMENT OF PESTICIDES RESIDUES IN Solanum melongena AND ITS HEALTH IMPLICATIONS

Aims: This study was aimed to investigate the presence of pesticide and quantification of chemical composition of Solanum melongena and its health implications on humans.

Introduction: The eggplant (Solanum melongena) is one of the most popular vegetable consumed in the world and it has been recently recognised and widely cultivated in Asia, about 78% of the world production is for its nutritional value.

Materials and Methods: Solanum melongena (Eggplant) was harvested in a farm where pesticide are used, the eggplant was sundried powdered and evaporated using rotary evaporator. The phytochemical composition of the fruit extract using gas chromatography and mass spectrophotometer (GC-MS) model; Shimadzu model, Perkin Elmer gas chromatography model Clarus 680 was used. Cytotoxicity test using Brine shrimp, Pesticide Assessment using QuEChERS procedure and gas chromatography analysis were applied.

Results: Phytochemical profiling of Solanum melongena shows the presence of Terpineol, 1H-Cycloprop [e]azulen-7-ol, Caryophyllene oxide, 2,2,4,4-Tetramethyl-6-(3-methylbutanoyl) cyc, alpha-Farnesene as the major metabolites. And the screening as a result of application of pesticides indicated the presence of quinalphos.

Conclusion: with the abundant metabolite in the Solanum melongena, accumulation of Quinalphos is a serious concern for food safety and for the consumer which are the area needed to be strengthened in research so as to focus on simple methods for surveillance of exposure, acute illness and its causes in order to develop and evaluate rapid local interventions of the toxic effects of pesticides (Quinalphos) generally. Pre-marketing product evaluation and post-marketing risk assessment and risk preventive measures should also be a priority to both the industry and the government.