Captan residue reduction in apples as a result of rinsing and peeling

Apples, treated with captan for disease control in a commercial orchard in Quebec, Canada, were collected and sorted into post-harvest preparation types (no preparation; rinse; rinse and peel). Captan residues were greatest (25.5–5100ng/g) in apples with no post-harvest preparation and lowest (0.146–136ng/g) in apples that had been rinsed and peeled prior to extraction and analysis. Residues were significantly lower (p=0.003) in apples that had been rinsed prior to extraction than in apples with no post-harvest preparation. Similarly, apples subjected to rinsing and peeling had significantly lower captan residues than had apples that had been rinsed alone (p70 years to 9.48μg/kg for individuals aged three years (at this age no distinction is made between males and females). Mean intakes estimated using rinsed and peeled apples were approximately two orders of magnitude lower than intakes estimated using apples with no post-harvest preparation, demonstrating the effect of post-harvest preparation on captan intakes. Mean captan intake estimates from all post-harvest preparation types were well below the World Health Organization acceptable daily intake of 100μg/kg/day, based on raw apple consumption.