Determination of imidacloprid in brinjal and okra fruits, decontamination and its dietary risk assessment.

Brinjal and okra are being sprayed withdifferent formulations of imidacloprid which leads to significant deposition of residues on fruits. Here in this study, we validated a method that could detect the traces of imidacloprid residues in a short run time using LC-MS/MS. LOD of 0.001 and LOQ of 0.003 µg/g for brinjal and in compliance with the MRL (0.2 mg/kg). The recovery at different spiking levels recorded 89.67 to 115.55 with an RSDr range of 3.02 and 5.22%. For okra, 0.0025 and 0.008 µg/g were observed as LOD and LOQ, respectively. Recovery was obtained between 88.69 and 93.74%. Precision in terms of repeatability (RSDr) and reproducibility (RSDwR) was found satisfactory in both matrices. Two applications of imidacloprid 17.8% SL in both vegetables showed faster dissipation initially and persisted up to 15-25 days. Decontamination with 2% salt solution followed by boiling for 15min. removed 96.43 and 73.66% of imidacloprid residues from brinjal and okra, respectively. Risk assessment was found to be less than one (HI < 1) for brinjal and okra matrix and can be safely consumed.

Molecular footprint of Frankliniella occidentalis from India: a vector of Tospoviruses.

The western flower thrips, F. occidentalis is a vector of Tospoviruses and native to Western North America and Mexico. The present study is based on collected F. occidentalis specimens from Karnataka state in southern India and morphologically identified through available keys. The generated DNA barcode data show 99-100% similarity with the database sequences of F. occidentalis. The phylogenetic analysis (NJ, ML, and BA) shows three distinct clades of F. occidentalis in the present dataset with high bootstrap supports and posterior probabilities. The K2P genetic distances further depicted high similarity of the generated sequences from India and Netherlands. The Clade-1 (India + Netherlands) also shows a close relationship with Clade-2 (Kenya) rather than Clade-3 (Canada + USA). This study recorded the first genetic footprint of F. occidentalis in India and indicated the gene flow from the Netherlands to India. The similar molecular techniques may help to detect the invasion of many alien species in the near future and assists the quarantine regulations to protect the native ecosystem.