It is crucial that we eliminate pesticide residue on our fruits and vegetables as ingesting these chemicals is not safe for our health.

Photo: Stokpic / www.pexels.com

We all know how important it is to eat fruits and vegetables daily. But, we should also be aware that getting fresh produce that is 100 per cent free of chemicals is almost impossible. To ward off insects, pesticides and other harmful chemicals are sprayed on the surface of fruits and vegetables during the process of farming. They are then packaged in plastic wraps and displayed at your local supermarket.

(Also read: Grow Your Own Vegetables At These Urban Farming Workshops in Singapore)

So, just how thoroughly do we need to wash our fruits and vegetables before consumption? An experiment by the American Chemical Society revealed the optimum washing method that expertly gets rid of the harmful nasties lurking on them.

To test this out, the researchers washed pesticide-sprayed apples with three different liquids. Similar batches of apples were washed with water, baking soda water and a commercial bleach solution designed to wash fresh produce.

The results showed that baking soda water turned out to be the most effective liquid that significantly reduced the amount of pesticide on the surface of the apples. It took about 15 minutes for the solution to get rid of 96 per cent of the chemicals on the apples.

For the experiment, they used 1 per cent baking soda water. This means that you only need to use a pinch of baking soda powder while washing your vegetables in a tub of water. Be sure to swish, rub and rinse the fresh produce thoroughly in the baking soda water.

Alternatively, one to ten parts of salt to water can also be used as a washing liquid to cleanse your fruits and vegetables.

(Also read: 6 Tips To Remove Pesticides from Fruits and Vegetables)