People buy vegetables in the market and start to worry about how to remove the residual pesticides on the vegetables. They wash them for a long time, but always feel that they are not clean. How can vegetables be cleaned without affecting health? Let's take a look together!
Five methods to remove pesticides from vegetables
1. Blanching
Blanching the vegetables in boiling water for 1-1.5 minutes can remove most of the residual pesticides without causing excessive loss of nutrients.
2. Peeling
Some fruits that cannot be blanched and vegetables with thick skin (such as cucumber, radish, etc.) can be peeled to remove pesticides, with a removal rate of over 90%.
3. Weak alkaline water rinsing
Common weak alkaline water in the kitchen includes rice water, flour water, and baking soda water.
Most pesticides are easily decomposed under alkaline conditions, so these weak alkaline water can be used to rinse fruits and vegetables.
4. Running water rinsing
Rinsing with running water can not only improve the removal rate of pesticides, but also prevent the loss of nutrients.
When washing, be sure to wash before cutting to avoid the pesticides dissolved in water from infiltrating into the vegetables through the cut surface.
5. Dishwashing detergent cleaning
Rinsing with water can remove most water-soluble pesticide residues.
However, for lipid-soluble pesticide residues, you can add 1-2 drops of edible dishwashing detergent when washing fruits and vegetables, soak for 3-5 minutes, and then rinse 1-2 times with clean water.
Important tips:
Do not soak vegetables for too long, as it may cause loss of nutrients. Previous studies have found that when vegetables are soaked for more than 15 minutes, the loss rate of vitamin C is over 90%.
