Objective: To investigate the characteristic and influential factors of the degradation of residual pesticides and alkaloids in Radix Sophorae Flavescentis by H2O2.
Method: The spiked samples were treated in H2O2 in different reaction time, concentration and pH value. The pesticide residuals were determined by GC-MS, and the contents of alkaloids were determined by HPLC.
Result: H2O2 had highly activity in degrading organophosphorus and pyrethroid, but had less activity to organochlorines. The degradation processes of organophosphorus and pyrethroid followed first-order kinetics equations, and were influenced by the pH value, the concentration of H2O2 and reaction time. The contents of alkaloids in Radix Sophorae Flavescentis changed not obviously after treatment with 3 mL x L(-1) H2O2 less than 6 hours under neutral condition.
Conclusion: H2O2 is a useful reagent for the degradation of organophosphorus and pyrethroid in crude drug.