Paclobutrazol is growth regulator of plants that has low mobility in soil and therefore has accumulated. The objective of this study was to investigate the paclobutrazol biodegradation in two soils from the São Francisco River Valley. The biodegradation experiments were conducted in batch using paclobutrazol and paclobutrazol added glycerol. The experiments were performed in sterile and nonsterile conditions using a mixed culture of Pseudomonas. The concentration of paclobutrazol was determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The biodegradation reached 43% in 14 days of experiments with only paclobutrazol and 70% in 28 days of experiments that contained glycerol and paclobutrazol.

Mathematical models can help to prevent high levels of toxic substances in soil or fruits of plants treated with pesticides and indicate that such substances should be systematically monitored. The aim of this research was to study the kinetics of paclobutrazol biodegradation by soil native bacteria using mathematical models. Three models were used to assess the kinetics of paclobutrazol biodegradation obtained experimentally. Excellent fits were obtained using dual kinetic and logistic models. The use of glycerol as additional carbon source increased the biodegradation of PBZ and consequently decreased the time required for a given PBZ initial concentration be halved.

Paclobutrazol is a plant growth retardant which is used world-wide for increasing the yield of cereal crops. However, this compound remains active in the soil for several years and can severely affect the growth and development of subsequent crops, mainly by reducing vegetative vigor. The aim of this work was to develop and validate methods for the determination of paclobutrazol concentrations by both high performance liquid chromatography and spectroscopy. Both methods were satisfactory and showed appropriately low quantification limits. The determination by spectroscopy has, however, the advantage of being a method significantly less expensive than high performance liquid chromatography.