BROMIDE RESIDUES IN PULP OF MANGO FRUITS SUBJECTED TO HOT AQUEOUS ETHYLENE DIBROMIDE DIPS

Treatment of mature fruit with hot ethylene dibromide solution often results in toxic deposits/residues in the treated material which is often injurious to health. Therefore, while developing a quarantine disinfection procedure for the disinfectation of stone weevil and fruit fly infestations in mango fruits through the use of hot aqueous ethylene dibromide dips, an attempt was made to estimate the bromide level in treated fruits.

Chemical estimations were made after the method reported by Gunther (1964) and the observations reveal that level of total bromides in the pulp of treated mango fruits falls below 5 ppm in 24 hours after treatment and below 2 ppm in 72 hours after treatment. The Food and Drug Administration of the U. S. D.A. has fixed a tolerance level of 10 ppm for inorganic bromides in mango fruit treated with ethylene dibromide.