Comparison of pesticide reduction in grape juice using ozone and UV-C light treatments

The application of pesticides in agriculture and the presence of their residues in food are a global concern. This issue can also be observed in grapes. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of gaseous ozone and UV-C irradiation on the degradation of some pesticides in grape juice. Ozonification resulted in a decrease in the concentration of all the compounds tested. The concentrations obtained were less than 47.5% of the initial concentrations. Additionally, UV-C light treatments led to a complete reduction in the concentration of all pesticides, except for penconazole, which was reduced to 13.2% with a treatment duration of 1800 s. Comparing the UV-C light radiation and ozone application, it was observed that the greatest destruction of pesticides was achieved with UV-C light treatment. The degradation of the studied pesticides followed first-order kinetics. The half-life ranged between 13 and 29 min for the ozone 99% treatment, 19–29 min for the ozone 50% treatment, and 2–12 min for the UV-C treatment. These results demonstrate a reduction in pesticide residues in food, achieving decreases of over 50%, thus lowering the risk to consumer health.