Non-destructive detection of pesticide residues in cucumber using visible/near-infrared spectroscopy

The feasibility of using visible/near-infrared (Vis/NIR) spectroscopy was assessed for non-destructive detection of diazinon residues in intact cucumbers. Vis/NIR spectra of diazinon solution and cucumber samples without and with different concentrations of diazinon residue were analysed at the range of 450-1000 nm. Partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models were developed based on different spectral pre-processing techniques to classify cucumbers with contents of diazinon below and above the MRL as safe and unsafe samples, respectively. The best model was obtained using a first-derivative method with the lowest standard error of cross-validation (SECV = 0.366). Moreover, total percentages of correctly classified samples in calibration and prediction sets were 97.5% and 92.31%, respectively. It was concluded that Vis/NIR spectroscopy could be an appropriate, fast and non-destructive technology for safety control of intact cucumbers by the absence/presence of diazinon residues.