Author: Tuliu.com Agricultural Station (Farming Station)

Image source: Internet search

Whenever seasonal fruits are on the market, there will always be various voices. For example: "Seedless grapes are definitely bred as birth control pills, kiwis won't go bad after applying preservatives for more than 100 days, persimmons and crabs can be fatal if eaten together..." etc., the editor seemed to hear the roar of the fruit army: "These black pots We won’t bear it! Who will vindicate us!” Okay, the editor is here to “save the beauty”~

Let’s turn on the fruit dumping mode~

Seedless fruits Is it necessary to cultivate contraceptives?

Today’s fruit market is becoming more and more abundant. There are seedless watermelons, seeded grapes, etc., and now there are seedless varieties. Especially for those with "lazy cancer", seedless varieties Fruit is simply a gift from God. However, there are constant rumors: "Fruit has no seeds. That is because of contraceptive pills. If you eat too much, especially girls, you will become infertile!" These rumors are really frightening. attracted many citizens.

The truth

Among all the fruit rumors, contraceptive pills are the additives with the largest crossover. Grapes, watermelons, cucumbers and other common fruits and vegetables have all been affected. But in fact, most of the seedless fruits are natural seedless varieties, while the other part are seedless through artificial cross-breeding and the use of legal plant growth regulators.

Seedless fruits mainly include watermelons, grapes, citrus and other categories. Among them, seedless watermelon is mainly cultivated through artificial hybridization, which prevents the seeds from being fertilized and developed normally, eventually forming seedless fruits. Seedless citrus is produced by grafting the branches of naturally formed seedless citrus. Among seedless grapes, varieties such as 8612 and Summer Black have mutations that cause their seeds to stop developing, and they become seedless after the fruit swells.

Currently, there are 38 types of plant growth regulators registered and approved for use in China, which are mainly used on fruits, vegetables, cotton, wheat and other crops. Qiao Xiongwu, a senior expert at the International Codex Alimentarius Commission, said that agricultural products using plant growth regulators are safe and there has never been a phenomenon of excessive residues. This is because most plant growth regulators can be completely degraded within 3-10 days after use.

Will eating persimmons and crabs together cause fatal poisoning?

Persimmons are like "cancers" in fruits. You may often hear that persimmons cannot be eaten with white wine, and persimmons cannot be eaten with white wine. There are some taboos about eating persimmons with crabs. It is said that the earliest theory of "persimmons and crabs are incompatible" originated in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and has a history of more than 1,600 years.

The truth

In fact, there is not enough scientific basis to support the conflict between persimmons and other foods. A professor from the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine once conducted research on the "crab and persimmon conflict". From a modern medical perspective, it is a typical acute gastroenteritis and food poisoning reaction, and the following digestive tract reaction is abdominal pain and diarrhea as the main symptom, which is consistent with bacterial food. The characteristics of poisoning and dysentery infection are not caused by food conflict.

According to the test results, the tannin content of persimmons picked in mid-June was 4.09, and by mid-October its content had dropped to 0.26, which means you don’t have to worry about these problems when eating mature persimmons.

Will strawberry enlargement cause cancer?

Strawberries are fruits with high nutritional value, but claims that "hormone strawberries" and "expansion agent strawberries" cause cancer are prevalent on the Internet. Among them, hollow strawberries with larger sizes and uniform appearances are the most questioned.

The truth

Kexin Food and Nutrition Information Exchange Center refuted the rumors and introduced that the size of strawberries is related to many factors. For example, through cross-breeding and thinning of flowers and fruits, larger fruits can be obtained. strawberries. There is indeed the possibility of using enlarging agents for some abnormally large strawberries, but it is not as scary as "causing cancer".

In fact, the swelling agent, as a plant growth regulator, has a scientific name of chlorfenuron (CPPU). It was first discovered in Japan in the 1980s, and was later introduced to China and widely used internationally. It can prompt plant cells to double the secretion of cytokinin, increase the number of plant cell divisions per unit time, and also promote the secretion of auxin, making cells grow larger.

Chlofenuron is a pesticide variety registered and approved for use by the Ministry of Agriculture. It can be used on cucumbers, grapes, kiwis, melons, watermelons and other crops. The maximum residue limit value is between 0.05mg/kg-0.1mg/kg. between. The plant growth regulator specifically registered in the strawberry category is brassinolide, which is a new type of plant endogenous hormone that can promote crop growth and increase crop yield. Strawberry enlarging agent can significantly increase the fruit setting rate and fruit weight of strawberries, but it will also affect the taste of strawberry fruits.

Kiwi fruit won’t rot after applying preservatives for more than 100 days?

The rumor that kiwi fruit will not go bad after applying preservatives comes from a certain area where consumers bought kiwi fruits and stored them for 138 days without deterioration. In fact, the merchants applied preservatives to ensure that they will not go bad for 3 months.

The truth

In fact, although there is a saying that "kiwifruit is soft in seven days, rotten in ten days, and half bad in half a month" at room temperature, if the picked kiwifruit is very hard, , there is no mechanical damage to ethylene stimulation, and the temperature is not very high, it is possible to produce "long-lived" kiwi fruits that are immature and non-corruptible for a long time.

The Food Science and Nutritional Engineering of China Agricultural University stated that kiwi fruit can be stored at 0°C for 6 to 8 months without deterioration without adding preservatives. For kiwi fruits that do not rot at room temperature for a long time, Feng Shuangqing speculated that special preservation treatments may have been carried out after picking. For example, the use of 1-methylcyclopropene fruit and vegetable storage and preservation technology can inhibit the release of ethylene from kiwi fruits, allowing them to be preserved for a long time. This preservation method is safe, reliable and not harmful to the human body.

Rumors stop with the wise (editor, who are you praising?) Of course, people are suspicious of fruits for the sake of their health, but in fact it is not that exaggerated. I believe in some scientific evidence and will be wiser when buying fruits in the future. You won’t have so many worries~