Twitter
Advertisement

Check fruits, vegetables for 'poison' in just four hours

WAIT OVER: IISER, T’puram makes identifying pesticides an easy job

Latest News
article-main
The lab earlier used to take about five to seven days to check fruits and vegetable samples for pesticides
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Fruits and vegetables are always considered to be a healthy option. But with the pesticides that farmers use to save their crops leaving an impact on the health of the consumers, the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Thiruvananthapuram has come out with an easy way to examine pesticides in those green farm produces we consume.

As per the technique employed by the IISER, fruits and vegetables will be first segregated on the basis of their colour. Then their juice will be extracted and a sample of the juice will be taken and put on a paper strip. This strip will be inserted into a machine containing Raman spectrometer.

The software installed in the machine will then help display the spectrums from the sample on the display screen, thereby helping us to easily identify whether the fruit or vegetable is worth eating.

The lab earlier used to take about five to seven days to check fruits and vegetable samples for pesticides. But by employing the new technique, it will be able to tell you in just a matter of four hours in whether the samples have passed or failed in the test.

Generally, the fruits and vegetables that contain the most amount of insecticides are apples, strawberry, grapes, peaches, cherries, spinach, tomato, radish, carrot, and cabbage.

"Fruits and vegetables are beneficial to our health. But due to intensive use of poisonous chemicals and fertilizers in their production, they are making people sick with various diseases such as cancer, ulcers, and kidney diseases," pointed out a health expert.

The pesticide testing lab, prepared by IISER Thiruvananthapuram, will be ready for just Rs 4-5 lakh whereas the machines which are not used in the lab are priced between Rs 30 to 35 lakh each. Though this technique cannot be used in homes, large stores and fruits, veg stalls can make use of this for an easy quality check on the fruits and vegetables they deal with.

Zee Media Newsroom

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement