Pesticide residues on food are threatening human health and wellbeing, ecological security. Food processing is one of the necessary ways to eliminate residues to guarantee the safety and sustainable development of the environment. This review outlines the mechanisms, applications, and factors infl uencing the effi ciency as well as their limitations of pesticide residue elimination technologies. Conventional thermal processing technologies like drying, blanching, baking, and roasting have been proved to reduce pesticides extensively whereas sometimes concentration effects occur, and more toxic metabolites or by-products are generated. Additionally, the negative effects on quality attributes of fruits and vegetables (F&V) should be considered. Several innovative non-thermal processing technologies like ultrasound, cold plasma, high-pressure processing, and pulsed electric fi elds have fl ourished currently, which show great ability to eliminate pesticide residues signifi cantly with minimal impact on the quality of F&V. In particular, heat-sensitive nutrients like ascorbic acid, phenolics, and carotenoids would retain to a great extent. Similarly, these technologies have their limitations. Furthermore, there is much information about combined processing technology affecting the pesticide behaviors of F&V. Finally, the future developments for pesticide elimination of these technologies are identifi ed and discussed.