Effect of application method and formulation on prothioconazole residue behavior and mycotoxin contamination in wheat

In this study, efficient and sensitive analytical methods based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry were established to evaluate the degradation behavior of prothioconazole and prothioconazole-desthio along with mycotoxin contamination in wheat samples. The mean recoveries of prothioconazole and prothioconazole-desthio ranged from 76.05% to 96.17% with intraday relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 0.84%–14.38%. Mean recoveries of the five mycotoxins were 85.82%–103.24% with RSDs of 1.82%–7.03%. The residue and degradation behavior of prothioconazole was studied in wheat plant and grain under field conditions with different spraying equipment and prothioconazole formulations. Both application method and formulation affected prothioconazole degradation, and the content of all mycotoxin was lower than the national standards. The proposed analytic methods can be used to systematically evaluate prothioconazole and prothioconazole-desthio along with mycotoxin contamination in food. These results suggest that prothioconazole is safe for the control Fusarium head blight in wheat. [Display omitted] •UAV sprayer decreased the residue of prothioconazole and prothioconazole-desthio, but extended half-life.•Formulation of prothioconazole affected the residue behavior, nano-formulation was the most suitable formulation.•The highest final residue value of prothioconazole-desthio was 5.27 μg kg−1; the value of all treatments was lower than MRL.•Prothioconazole was efficient to control mycotoxin contamination in wheat.