ABSTRACT
Fungicides are either chemicals or biological agents that inhibit the growth of fungi or fungal spores. Fungicides are used both in agriculture and to ght fungal infections in animals. Contact fungicides are not taken up into the plant tissue, and only protect the plant where the spray is deposited; systemic fungicides redistribute the fungicide from the upper, sprayed leaf surface to the lower, unsprayed surface; and systemic fungicides are taken up and redistributed through the xylem vessels to the upper parts of the plant. Fungicide residues are frequently found in food destined for human consumption, mostly from postharvest treatments (Brooks and Roberts 1999), some of which are dangerous to health, such as vinclozolin, which has now been removed from use (Hrelia 1996).
