Determination of essential oils residues on zucchini fruits by GC-MS

In recent years, the use of essential oils (EOs) derived from aromatic plants as low-risk fungicides has increased considerably owing to their interest with organic growers and environmentally conscious consumers. The proposed method, based upon liquid–liquid extraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis, is suitable for monitoring main components of EOs on zucchini fruits after protection treatments to control crop disease. The aim of this work is to find a rapid, simple and cheap procedure for screening analysis such as quality control of crops’ edible portion.