How to Reduce Pesticide Residues

In contemporary agricultural production processes, during crop growth, people inevitably use pesticides to manage crops. So pesticide residues have become a major issue. How can we avoid or reduce human intake of pesticides in various agricultural products？

For the vegetables we consume daily, we can use the following methods to deal with pesticide residues.

1. Soaking

We can soak the purchased vegetables for a few minutes before rinsing them. Alternatively, vegetables can be soaked in soda water to neutralize pesticide toxicity. Do not use ordinary detergents to clean fruits and vegetables, as the chemical components contained in the detergents themselves are prone to residue on fruits and vegetables, which is detrimental to human health.

2. Using Salt Water

Washing vegetables with 5% salt water can reduce the harm of pesticide residues.

3. Peeling

Vegetables such as cucumbers and eggplants generally use more pesticides, and these vegetable and fruit ingredients can be peeled and eaten directly.

4. High Temperature Heating

High temperature heating can also decompose pesticides. Some heat-resistant vegetables, such as cauliflower, beans, celery, etc., can be washed and blanched in boiling water for a few minutes to reduce pesticide content by 30%. After being cooked at high temperature, 90% of the pesticide can be removed.

5. Sunlight

Sunlight exposure can cause some pesticides in vegetables to be decomposed and destroyed. According to measurements, when vegetables are exposed to sunlight for 5 minutes, the residual amount of pesticides such as organochlorine and organomercury can be reduced by about 60%.

6. Soaking in the Rice Washing Water

In practical life, rice washing water is quite common and has a good effect on removing pesticide residues. Rice washing water is weakly alkaline and can neutralize pesticide components, weakening its efficacy; The starch contained in rice washing water also has strong stickiness.

We have introduced how to reduce pesticide residues on vegetables, so can we choose some agricultural products with less pesticide residues when buying?

Generally speaking, the pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables with serious pests and diseases in the growth period are easy to exceed the standard, and the possibility of pesticide residues in leafy vegetables is high, such as Cabbage, Chinese cabbage, rape, etc., of which rape is the most likely to be polluted, because the cabbage caterpillar is highly resistant to pesticides, and vegetable farmers are easy to choose highly toxic pesticides.

Root vegetables such as green peppers, beans, and radishes, as well as some thin skinned fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, cherries, and nectarines, have better pesticide residues. However, root vegetables such as potatoes, onions, radishes, sweet potatoes, and peanuts, because they are buried in the soil, have relatively small pesticide residues, but they are not absolutely free of pesticide residues.

Fruits and vegetables with special odors have the least pesticide residue. Like fennel, coriander, chili, kale, etc., there are fewer pests and diseases, and less pesticides are used.

So, if consumers want to buy healthy and safe food, they need to go to the formal market to purchase, try to choose vegetables with low probability of pesticide residues, and choose less vegetables that are harvested continuously, such as kidney beans, leeks, cucumbers, kale, etc.