Reducing pesticide residues in food: are domestic processing practices effective?

Abstract

The ingestion of food contaminated by pesticide residues is considered the primary route of pesticide exposure for humans. It is important to identify whether there are effective solutions or techniques for mitigating these risks. This integrative review aims to analyze the scientific evidence on domestic practices for reducing pesticide residues in food, discussing the mechanisms by which these techniques are effective or not. In all, 460 records were analyzed, leading to the selection of 21 articles. Techniques such as washing in water and acidic, alkaline, and detergent solutions, peeling, homogenization, and cooking can be effective strategies for reducing certain pesticide residues. Among the main mechanisms involved are solubilization, hydrolysis, thermal degradation, oxidation, and volatilization, and the effectiveness of each technique depends on the physicochemical nature of the pesticide, food, and processing conditions. However, these techniques may not be effective. Cooking, for example, in addition to leading to the formation of secondary metabolites of an unknown nature, can promote the concentration of the food, causing the residues to be concentrated in the product. While these techniques favor safety by reducing potentially toxic and pathogenic components, they can compromise the nutritional and functional characteristics of the product, mainly by decreasing the levels of fibers and antioxidants.