Baking Soda Are The Best Medium To Wash Off Pesticides From The Fruits, Shows A Study

A few researchers at the University of Massachusetts have claimed that they have found a better method to wash away pesticides from the apples. This research report was published in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

According to the report, washing apples under running water only removes dirt and dust but not the pesticides. Even rubbing an apple on your shirt or with napkin cannot get rid of the pesticides on your apple. 

Researchers say that washing apples with baking soda could do the trick for residues on the surfaces of the fruit. To derive this fact, researchers used two kinds of pesticides- the fungicide thiabendazole and the insecticide phosmet.

The researchers used three different ways to wash the apples. First, they cleaned the apples under normal tap water. Second, they used a solution of water and baking soda and third they used commercial bleach solution approved for use by the Environmental Protection Agency. They let the fruit sit for at least 24 hours before washing with any medium.

The researchers found that the apples washed with baking soda cleaned 80% of thiabendazole after 12 minutes, while 96% of the phosmet was removed after 15 minutes. The study also found that thiabendazole was more difficult to remove because it was able to penetrate more deeply into the Apple's skin.

Mapping images showed that thiabendazole had penetrated up to 80 micrometers deep into the apples. While phosmet was detected at a depth of only 20 micrometers.

Another way to remove the pesticides was to peel off the Apple's skin. Although that is not the best solution as this way you will lose the key ingredient found on the skin.

Earlier in a study, researchers found that after strawberries it is apple that undergoes the maximum pesticides treatment. This research was carried out on 35000 fruits and vegetables.