In the middle of strawberry season, it is not only important to know how to choose the best specimens to enjoy their delicious flavor. In the case of strawberries, it is also key wash them the right way. And this fruit, along with other commonly consumed fruits and vegetables, are greatly affected by the use of pesticides in agriculture.

In fact, on more than one occasion there have been health alerts with strawberries as protagonists. To avoid taking risks, it is essential to eliminate pesticides and viruses well. Researchers from the South Korea Institute of Toxicology published a study in the scientific journal Foods where they specified the best method to wash this spring fruit that tops the list of most contaminated fruits.

Here we will see how to wash strawberries well both for reduce pesticides to contribute to disinfection and avoid contamination with possible viruses and bacteria that may be on the surface. Let’s first look at what the most recent studies say about which substances are most effective at doing this.

The best scientific formula to wash strawberries

The goal of Korean researchers who focused on how to wash strawberries effectively was reduce contamination of this fruit with pesticides such as chlorfenapyr, celienopirafen, indoxacarb and spirotetramate. Of all these chemicals, chlorfenapyr is the most resistant to washing.

The scientists concluded that the best method for washing strawberries is to a 3% dilution of water and vinegar (this is, for example, 90 ml of vinegar in 3 liters of water). This method eliminates 48.7% of pesticide residues.

The Korean team tried two other methods:

• A 3% dilution of salt achieved a removal of 45.7%.
• A 3% dilution of green tea achieved a 38.9% reduction.

The three methods, with vinegar, salt or green tea, were much more effective than simply washing with water, which only achieved a 24.6% reduction.

How to wash strawberries step by step

To wash strawberries correctly and eliminate pesticides and possible pathogenic microorganisms, the ideal is to be meticulous by following these steps:

1. Remove the green leaves after washing the strawberries, never before!

If you are not going to process the strawberries to prepare a jam or make a fruit salad, there is a way to preserve their freshness: put them in a water and vinegar bath.

Do you always remove the green leaves from strawberries first and then rinse the fruits? Well, it is a fatal mistake: when tearing off the leaves, strawberry can absorb water and the contaminants found in it. Furthermore, water, even if it is clean, dilutes its flavor.

Therefore, wash them well with the leaves and tear them off when you are going to consume them.

2. Do not wash strawberries under the tap

What do you do when washing strawberries? A very common practice is to put them in the strainer and pass them through tap water, placing them directly under the stream of water. It sounds logical and comfortable, but it is not a good idea.

The strawberry is a delicate fruit and does not withstand well the force with which the stream of water comes out of the tap. The pressure can bruise it, which accelerates its deterioration and affects its flavor.

To wash strawberries correctly without resorting to running tap water, you can follow the following steps:

• Fill a bowl or other sufficiently deep container with warm water and add 3% vinegar (for example, 90 ml of vinegar in 3 liters of water). It is recommended that the water be warm because this increases its ability to clean away dust, pesticides, and other substances. Let the strawberries soak in the water for at least two minutes.
• Now gently go over the strawberries with your fingertips. Never leave the strawberries in the bowl for too long, because that will cause them to absorb too much water and lose flavor. And, be careful, first of all, when you are going to start handling the strawberries, make sure you wash your hands well with soap and water.
• Then put the strawberries in a colander. and let the water drain.
• Finally dry them gently with absorbent paper or a clean kitchen towel.

Keep in mind that, with this wash, you eliminate part of the pesticides, but not all. A part of the pesticides will have inevitably been absorbed by the strawberry and is already in the pulp, so you will not be able to get rid of them.

Always the best way to avoid pesticides is by opting for organic cultivation, although this is only one of the advantages of buying organic strawberries. Reducing exposure to these residues is always worth the effort, because their effect on the body depends on the dose and accumulation.

3. Avoid putting washed and cut strawberries in the refrigerator

If you normally put everything you don’t eat right away in the refrigerator, you are doing what is most common and what seems most logical, but you have probably already begun to sense that With strawberries that is not the best idea either.

The most advisable thing is that between shopping, washing and eating, minimum possible time.

Should strawberries be washed with bleach?

It is true that the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (Aecosan) recommends using bleach to wash fruits and vegetables that are going to be eaten with their skin on, such as strawberries. Specifically, it indicates that you have to leave it in drinking water and bleach for about five minutes. (in a proportion of 4.5 ml of bleach for every three liters of water). Now, not just any bleach can be used; It must be a bleach suitable for disinfecting drinking water.

If you are hesitant to use a chemical such as bleach, which is not risk-free, the alternative is to choose strawberries from organic and local production, although you should also wash these well. Another option is grow your own strawberries, which you will also have to wash, but you will surely feel much safer if you control the entire process.

how to know where strawberries come from

According to Spanish and European regulations, It is mandatory to declare the actual country of origin of the strawberries. It is not true that a Spanish distributor can buy strawberries in Morocco or another country and then sell them as if they were Spanish. This would be illegal. On the other hand, it is true that this declaration is not mandatory for all foods, but it is for strawberries and other fruits and vegetables.

The label must inform the country of origin or provenance (these terms are synonymous by law (EU Regulation 1169/2011). If it does not appear because the strawberries are in a basket without a label, you can ask the merchant, who is obliged to provide that information.

On the other hand, if the country of origin is not seen on the label, because for some reason it is blurred or hidden, You can look at the barcode. The code has a number and the first two figures indicate the country of origin. Spanish strawberries have the numbers 84 and, for example, those from Morocco, 611.