By kumari Swati
Fruits and vegetables are important part of our diet .Thus to consume healthy fruits and vegetables will lead to a happy and healthy life . But with the changing time we are witnessing a fact that pesticides are used in vegetables and fruits in higher quantity in order to grow fruits and vegetables in large quantity in order to meet the demands of ever increasing population. These pesticides are very harmful to our health. It even causes cancer in human bodies. There are three types of chemicals that are used in Fruits and vegetables .The first chemical is Wax and DPA (Diphenylamine).The fruits and vegetables which are imported from foreign countries have a coating of wax on them in order to protect these fruits and vegetables from moisture , so that it looks fresh for a longer period of time. It will be better for us if we avoid buying and consuming the fruits and vegetables that come from foreign countries. Insted of that we can buy and consume the local and seasonal fruits and vegetables that are available in our local market. This way we will eat fresh fruits and vegetables and will also promote our local traders and farmers . The second chemical that is used is calcium carbide , which is mostly used in mangoes and bananas, in order to grow these fruits rapidly in quantity in order to meet the ever increasing demand. The industrial calcium carbide that is used also have lead and arsenic in it which is harmful for human health. Third kind of chemical is pesticides which are most harmful chemical and it is spread over trees in such a way that these pesticides enter stems, the leaves and then to the fruits.
There are solutions that we can adopt in order to protect ourselves from these fruits and vegetables .The first one is to eat organic fruits and vegetables , but many people cannot afford eating organic fruits and vegetables as it is costly. We can plant our own fruits and vegetables in our Home garden and can consume that. The second method to protect ourselves from these chemicals and pesticides is to soak the fruits and vegetables in baking soda solution. Baking Soda or Sodium Bicarbonate is known for its alkaline nature. Baking soda is used to remove 96 to 98 percent of the harmful effects caused by the pesticides. Take a utensil , and then soak the fruits and vegetables completely in water. Add a teaspoon of baking soda in it and leave it for 15 to 20 minutes . After that wash these fruits and vegetables in running water. If you are using 2 litres of water , you have to add a single teaspoon of baking soda , similarly if you are using 4 litres of water , you have to add 2 teaspoon of Baking soda .This way with the quantity of water , the quantity of baking soda that will be added in water can be estimated and used approximately. This way we can take small steps at our home and can eat chemical free fruits and vegetables.
