Dissipation of tembotrione in maize and its effect on biochemical attributes of maize under mid-hill sub-humid zone.

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to investigate the dissipation behavior of tembotrione in soil and its effect on the biochemical constituents of maize leaves and grain. The average recovery of tembotrione from soil, maize grain, and stover was in the range of 84.0 to 86.0%, 79.3 to 83.0%, and 81.0 to 84.4%, respectively, with RSD less than 10%. Half-life (DT50) of tembotrione ranged from 9 to 14days at an application rate of 60 to 240gha-1. Terminal residues in soil, maize grain, and stover were below detectable levels (≤ 0.025µgg-1) at studied application rates. The chemical attributes, i.e., total chlorophyll, total carotenoids, and carbohydrate content, of rice leaves were observed at monthly intervals (zero (2h), 30, 60days after the herbicide application) and at harvest for biochemical analysis and grain samples at maturity of the crop for carbohydrate content. The results revealed that total chlorophyll, total carotenoids, and carbohydrate content in maize leaves increased significantly with applied tembotrione treatments, and the maximum increase was noticed in treatment 120gha-1. A significant increase in total carbohydrate content in maize grain over the control was noticed in all the herbicide-applied treatments. It can be inferred that the application of tembotrione is safe in the production of food with better quality and food safety.