To wash apples in the best possible way and to be more likely to remove pesticides, at least from the outside, you should not use only water and not even a solution of water and bleach. According to a new study conducted in the United States, there is another more natural and effective way, completely new to us: it is using sodium bicarbonate!
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wash apples better and be more likely to remove, at least from the outside, i pesticides you shouldn't use just water or even a solution of water and bleach. According to a new study conducted in the United States, there is another more natural and effective way, completely new to us: it is to use sodium bicarbonate!
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts recently conducted an experiment, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, to find the best way to eliminate most pesticides from fruit.
In the study, the researchers used apples of the Gala variety (unfortunately we know that apples are one of the richest fruits in pesticides) to which two common pesticides were added: an insecticide called Fosmet and a fungicide known as Thiabendazole. These chemicals remained on the apples for 24 hours.
The researchers then washed the fruit using three different types of liquids. The first was simply water, the second was a mix of water and baking soda, and the third was a commercial bleach solution approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.
By measuring the chemicals left on the surface and inside the fruit, the researchers found that it was the water and baking soda solution (in a dose of one tablespoon of baking soda for every two cups of water) that was best for remove pesticides even compared to that based on bleach.
After 12-15 minutes in a bath with water and bicarbonate, in fact, the chemicals were significantly reduced: 80% of the Thiabendazole was removed and 96% of the Fosmet was eliminated. On the other hand, bleach has been shown to be able to effectively reduce the microbial load but not so the pesticides present on fruit.
The bad news obviously is that, even using bicarbonate, it is not possible in any way to completely eliminate the harmful substances that remain, for about 20% in the case of the fungicide and 4% for the insecticide, immersed in the peel and also inside the apple.
On the methods for washing fruit and vegetables read also:
- 5 TIPS FOR REMOVING FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PESTICIDES
- AMUCHINA® GOODBYE! THE ECOLOGICAL ALTERNATIVES TO DISINFECT
- 10 TRICKS TO CLEAN AND CUT FRUIT AND VEGETABLES QUICKLY (VIDEO)
Since pesticides pollute, are harmful to animals and in any case end up, at least in part, in our organism, as always we advise you to choose as much fruit and vegetables as possible from organic farming. Also in this case it is good to wash the vegetables and fruit but for example in the case of apples we can consume them with more tranquility together with the peel that we know is particularly rich in nutrients and beneficial.
