Pesticide residues in some Egyptian spices and medicinal plants as affected by processing

Pesticide residues were determined in Egyptian spices and medicinal plants. For this purpose, a total of 303 samples, which represent 20 different plants were collected from sources in Egypt and several shipments All the collected samples were analyzed for the determination of organophosphorus and organochlorine residues. The obtained results showed the predominance of malathion in most of the analyzed samples. The detected concentrations of it in jews mallow, dill, celery, tea, caraway, chamomile and saffron exceeded the maximum permissible levels (MPLs), as did the concentrations of dimethoate in caraway and chamomile samples. Low levels of profenofos, pirmiphos-methyl, chloropyrifos. parathion and diazinon were determined in the analyzed samples. Residues of lindane, aldrin, dieldrin, DDT, chlordane and endrin in chamomile samples exceeded the MPLs. Residues of aldrin and dieldrin in karkade were higher than the MPLs, as was chlordane in peppermint. Residues were not detected in the watery extract when the medicinal plant was boiled in water. Also, immersing the plants in hot water transferred some pesticide residues to the aqueous extract. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.