title: Detection of thiabendazole applied on citrus fruits and bananas using surface enhanced Raman scattering.
abstract: Thiabendazole (TBZ) is a chemical fungicide and parasiticide largely used in food industry against mold and blight in vegetables and fruits during transportation and long term deposit. We investigated the possibility to detect and monitor the TBZ from the chemically treated bananas and citrus fruits available on Romanian market, using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) with a compact, portable, mini-Raman spectrometer. To assess the potential of the technique for fast, cheap and sensitive detection, we report the first complete vibrational characterization of the TBZ in a large pH and concentration range in conjunction with the density functional theory (DFT) calculations. From the relative intensity of the specific SERS bands as a function of concentration, we estimated a total amount of TZB as 78 mg/kg in citrus fruits, 13 times higher than the maximum allowed by current regulations, whereas in banana fruit the value was in the allowed limit.
authors.affiliation: Babeş-Bolyai University, Biomedical Physics, Theoretical and Molecular Spectroscopy Department, Kogălniceanu 1, 400084 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Csilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Leontin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: Vasile
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chiş
authors.forename: Simona Cintă
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Pînzaru
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002957:Citrus / Q000737:chemistry*; D003102:Colloids; D005506:Food Contamination; D005513:Food Inspection / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry*; D005659:Fungicides, Industrial / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D008956:Models, Chemical; D028521:Musa / Q000737:chemistry*; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D010573:Pesticide Residues / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D012383:Romania; D018030:Silver Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D012995:Solubility; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000295:instrumentation; D013499:Surface Properties; D013827:Thiabendazole / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D003102:Colloids; D005659:Fungicides, Industrial; D010573:Pesticide Residues; D018030:Silver Compounds; D014867:Water; D013827:Thiabendazole
keywords: Bananas; Bio lemon; Citrus fruits; DFT calculations; E233; SERS; Thiabendazole