How To Test Fruits And Vegetables For Pesticides At Home

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

How to check fruits and vegetables for pesticides and nitrates at home

Today, it is very expensive to grow food without the use of artificial fertilizers. In turn, nitrogenous compounds in excess doses can cause poisoning and even provoke chronic diseases. To protect yourself from health problems, it is important to be able to independently determine the presence of nitrates in vegetables and fruits.

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The appearance of the fruit can tell a lot about its quality. Chemicals used in the cultivation of crops stimulate the accelerated growth and ripening of vegetables and fruits. This is especially beneficial for Chinese farmers to get early harvest in large quantities in order to compete with local producers.

Here are the main external signs of fruits oversaturated with harmful nitrates and pesticides:

• unnaturally large size;
• perfectly smooth shapes;
• bright, pronounced color;
• the same size for all fruits.

In natural conditions, none of the above can be. Such signs indicate that the fruits are "stuffed" with nitric acid salts. They ripen watery and almost tasteless. The amount of chemicals in them is simply off scale.

Sniff fruits and vegetables

Vegetables and fruits grown without chemical fertilizers should smell. Since crops matured without the help of nitrates grow more slowly, their life processes are not disturbed. During the ripening period, they have enough time to acquire a characteristic rich smell.

If they don't have a scent, they are overly processed.

It is enough to take one fruit in your hand before buying and squeeze the peel with your fingernail. The pulp underneath should immediately exude a characteristic smell. Root vegetables such as potatoes and carrots do not have a peel as such, so rub them over the surface with your finger.

Look for worms

Any agricultural chemistry used in agriculture repels insects and pests. One of its main tasks is, among other things, protection from damage to fruits by worms. This is why we see perfect apples and pears on supermarket shelves.

The presence of traces of worms in fruits and vegetables, of course, repels. But on the other hand, this serves as an indicator that fruits and vegetables are not oversaturated with nitrogenous compounds - the pest always chooses fruits that are "pure" from chemistry.

Hold in water with acetic acid

Typically, most of the chemicals are found in the peel and at the base of the fruit. A weak solution of acetic acid will help to determine its presence, and at the same time to partially remove the chemistry. A few drops of this substance are enough for 1 liter of water.

Soak vegetables and fruits for 30 minutes. If they contain a large amount of pesticides and nitrates, the solution will acquire a cloudy yellowish pink hue. It is the reaction of chemicals with acetic acid. In this case, a significant part of the nitrates will be released from the peel into the water.

Before eating such specimens for food, it is highly desirable to peel them.