Modeling banana uptake of pesticides by incorporating a peel-pulp interaction system into a multicompartment fruit tree model.

Abstract

According to field research, banana peels have a significant impact on the uptake of pesticide residues by banana pulps. To predict pesticide residue concentrations in harvested bananas, however, current modeling approaches did not take into consideration the banana peel as a single simulating compartment. To address the problem, we incorporated a peel-pulp interaction system into a modified multicompartment fruit tree model in order to simulate pesticide residue concentrations in banana plants. The simulation results revealed that lipophilicity played a crucial role in regulating pesticide bioaccumulation in banana plants, showing that moderately- or highly-lipophilic compounds had a high potential for bioaccumulation in banana pulps and peels. Some model inputs, such as peel thickness, degradation rates in plant tissues, and dissipation rates in the soil, had a substantial impact on the bioaccumulation of pesticides in banana pulps and peels. Even if more aspects (such as dynamically morphological properties of banana plants and ionizable chemical compounds) must be considered for in future research, the proposed modeling approach can aid in the comprehension of the pesticide bioaccumulation mechanism in banana plants.