EFFECT OF COMMERCIAL PROCESSING PROCEDURES ON CARBOFURAN RESIDUES IN SOYBEAN OIL

Dry seeds of soybean from C-14-carbofuran-treated plants contained abo ut 1% of the originally applied radioactivity. Extraction of the seeds with hexane and methanol left 50% of the C-14 in the cake. Analysis o f residues showed the presence of free products in the oil and conjuga ted metabolites in the methanol extract. The free substances were iden tified as carbofuran and its phenol. The percentage of the latter incr eased during the successive refining processes. The refined oil had on ly 16% of the radioactivity originally present. The methanol extract c ontained four glucosides, mostly those of S-hydroxy carbofuran. Refini ng soybean oil fortified with C-14-carbofuran reduced the residue in t he oil by 78%. Most of the residue remaining was carbofuran. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.