Pesticide in veggies? Home remedies to help

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Agro-scientists working on reducing pesticide residue in vegetables and fruits have come up with simple home remedies for the same.
It was following a study on the impact of pesticide residue on farm-produce - conducted by the pesticide research and analytical laboratory of the Kerala Agricultural University - finding that a cross-section of leafy vegetables and curry leaves had pesticides beyond permissible limits that the agro scientists of the university tried out various organic methods to remove pesticides.
"In our study, we found that tamarind water and vinegar were best suited to remove pesticides from vegetables," says Dr Thomas Biju Mathew, department of entomology, who conducted the tests along with a team of scientists. He says they used a majority of pesticides available in the market -- rated red (extreme), yellow (high) and blue (moderate) according to toxicity levels, for the tests.
"Tamarind water and vinegar were effective in removing the pesticide residue (up to 95%), especially in spinach, curry leaves, chillies, lady's finger, snake gourds and brinjals that were contaminated with heavy doses of pesticides."
The vegetables need to be dipped in tamarind water (prepared using at least 20 mg of tamarind) for 15 minutes. The curry leaves and chillies should be washed thoroughly before cooking. "Curry leaves and chilles can be dried, kept back in the fridge and used when needed. Bitter guords and beans need to be brushed with a soft bristle brush after dipping in tamarind water and washed once more,'' he says.
The tests also revealed that basmati rice had higher traces of pesticide when compared to brown rice available in the state. "The pesticide level in samples of rice decreased by 85% once they were washed and cooked." The Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee had, in August, approved 240 pesticides for use in the country while banning 70. An earlier study by KAU had found that many vegetable samples -- mainly chilly (18 of 48 samples) and curry leaves (47 of 79 samples) -- had traces of pesticides that should not have been used on them.