Behavior of parathion in apple juice processed into cider and vinegar.

Apple juice, fortified with 25 ppm (ug/g) of parathion, was processed into cider and vinegar. After the initial fermentation period of 12 days, the supernatant cider contained 7.4 ppm of parathion while the level in the sedimented lees was 88 ppm. Sorption to the sedimented matter was the main pathway for parathion residue reduction in the cider. Levels of aminoparathion and 4-nitrophenol, the only metabolites of parathion detected as confirmed by thin-layer chromatography, were 0.19 and 1.2 ppm, respectively, in the cider. The 56-day-old finished cider prior to bottling contained 2.2 ppm parathion, 0.15 ppm aminoparathion and 1.3 ppm 4-nitrophenol. Storage of the cider at 24, 12, 4 and -20 degrees C resulted in further reduction in the parathion levels. After one year, samples stored at 24 degrees C contained only 2.5% of the initial level added to the juice. Samples stored at the three other temperatures contained about 5% of the original level. Vinegar formed after 57 days of fermentation contained 5.1 ppm parathion, while the residue level in the lees was 76 ppm. Aminoparathion and 4-nitrophenol levels were 0.23 and 1.2 ppm, respectively in the vinegar. Storage of the vinegar at 24 degrees C for one year resulted in a gradual decline in the parathion level and at the end of the storage period, the remaining residue represented about 6% of the initial 24 ppm added to the juice.