Canola oil is an excellent vehicle for eliminating pesticide residues in aqueous ginseng extract.
BACKGROUND
We previously reported that two-phase partition chromatography between ginseng water extract and soybean oil efficiently eliminated pesticide residues. However, an undesirable odor and an unpalatable taste unique to soybean oil were two major disadvantages of the method. This study was carried out to find an alternative vegetable oil that is cost effective, labor effective, and efficient without leaving an undesirable taste and smell.


METHODS
We employed six vegetable oils that were available at a grocery store. A 1-mL sample of the corresponding oil containing a total of 32 pesticides, representing four categories, was mixed with 10% aqueous ginseng extract (20 mL) and equivalent vegetable oil (7 mL) in Falcon tubes. The final concentration of the pesticides in the mixture (28 mL) was adjusted to approximately 2 ppm. In addition, pesticides for spiking were clustered depending on the analytical equipment (GC/HPLC), detection mode (electron capture detector/nitrogen-phosphorus detector), or retention time used. Samples were harvested and subjected to quantitative analysis of the pesticides.


RESULTS
Soybean oil demonstrated the highest efficiency in partitioning pesticide residues in the ginseng extract to the oil phase. However, canola oil gave the best result in an organoleptic test due to the lack of undesirable odor and unpalatable taste. Furthermore, the qualitative and quantitative changes of ginsenosides evaluated by TLC and HPLC, respectively, revealed no notable change before or after canola oil treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
We suggest that canola oil is an excellent vehicle with respect to its organoleptic property, cost-effectiveness and efficiency of eliminating pesticide residues in ginseng extract.
Department of Biomedical Chemistry, College of Biomedical & Health Science, Konkuk University, Chungju, Korea.
Kyu-Min
KM
Cha
Nonghyup Hansamin, Jeungpyeong, Korea.
Eun-Sil
ES
Lee
Ewha Medical Research Institute, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea.
Il-Woung
IW
Kim
Nonghyup Hansamin, Jeungpyeong, Korea.
Hyun-Ki
HK
Cho
Department of Biomedical Chemistry, College of Biomedical & Health Science, Konkuk University, Chungju, Korea.
Ji-Hoon
JH
Ryu
Department of Biomedical Chemistry, College of Biomedical & Health Science, Konkuk University, Chungju, Korea.
Si-Kwan
SK
Kim
Panax ginseng extract; canola oil; pesticide residue elimination; two-phase partition chromatography; vegetable oil