In winter, we like to eat citrus fruits, because these delicious fruits are a good source of vitamin C, which is essential in the cold season. Oranges and tangerines are an ideal snack for the evening and a delicious addition to various desserts and cakes. However, when buying them in the supermarket, we must remember to thoroughly clean the skin. Water alone is often not enough. How to clean citrus fruits so you can eat them safely?

We often just rinse the fruit we peel, but we should wash it better to remove all pesticides and chemicals from the skin. Citrus fruits are worth scrubbing properly, even if we don’t use the peels, which can be used in cakes or tea.

What’s on citrus peels?

Fruit available in stores often comes from crops that maximize yield and therefore pesticides are usually used (but that doesn’t mean we don’t need to wash organic citrus fruit). In addition they are also protected during transport, for this purpose preservatives and fungicides are used. Thanks to this, citrus fruits do not mold and can be consumed longer. Sometimes they are also waxed and polished to make them look better.

Pesticides, especially in larger quantities, are not neutral for the body, substances like imazalil can even contribute to the development of cancer and infertility. Therefore, it is very important to wash the fruit before peeling and eating. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the safe consumption of this substance is 0.05 mg per 1 kg of body weight. This means that a person weighing, for example, 60 kg should not eat more than 3 mg per day. However, it is worth reducing this value even more.

How to wash citrus peels?

To get rid of or significantly reduce the amount of harmful substances on citrus peels, you should wash them thoroughly. The parts of the preparations that are found on the fruit are soluble in water. However, just rinsing is not enough.

  • It is best to wash the oranges under running water e.g. using a fruit brush or the thick part of a sponge. In addition, you can use dishwashing detergent and then rinse the fruit thoroughly. This method will work for most citrus fruits.
  • Fruits with a much thicker skin, e.g. grapefruits must be scalded with boiling water before washing. This will allow even better removal of harmful substances.

What if, for example, we want to caramelize the skins and use them for a cake?

  • In such a situation, citrus fruits are needed wash twice. First in water with apple cider vinegar or citric acid, to get rid of bacteria. Then in water with baking soda, which removes pesticides and preservatives.
  • After cleaning the fruit, we must wash our hands thoroughly with soap and water.

Don’t forget that you also need to wash fruit from organic farming or home cultivation. They do not contain pesticides, so they do not need to be scalded with boiling water or washed with baking soda or vinegar. However, it is worth washing them with warm water and removing bacteria or other impurities that have accumulated during collection or transport.

Do not wrap this food in foil. Experts say it straight: Poisoning can occur