Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, February 9

Don’t get carried away with bright red carrots or sparkling green chilies, unusually shining apples and visibly sweet melons, as traders and retailers, who are under pressure to ensure a regular supply of fruits and vegetables much before due time of arrival in the mandis, resort to unethical practices.Rampant malpractices are adopted by them to give that extra shine, colour and sweetness to fruits and vegetables.To ripen bananas and mangoes fast, they are exposed to carbide that generates ethylene gas which gives out heat that in turn helps the fruit to ripen fast.Many green vegetables such as bitter gourd, lady’s finger, pumpkin and cabbage are dipped in copper sulphate water to make them look greener.Similarly, brinjals are coated with oil that makes them shine; apples are lightly touched with wax to make their coat look impressive; carrots are dipped in red-water and watermelons injected with red colour and sugar syrup to make them red and sweet from inside.“People are advised to carefully check fruits and veggies and purchase only seasonal fruits and vegetables. Wash them thoroughly before consumption and using a blend of vinegar and water to clean vegetables which will help in killing the bacteria,” said a city-based medicine expert Dr Sudhir Sharma.Artificial ripening of bananas and mangoes with calcium carbide, popularly known as masala, is common and sometimes apples, papayas, guavas, pears and plums are artificially ripened as well.“Artificial ripening of fruits is done for commercial purposes with chemicals. However, fruits thus readied are both toxic and tasteless. If the fruit is uniformly well coloured, or if black blotches appear on the skin in two or three days, you could suspect chemical ripening,” said a former employee of the Health Department.Being cheap (one kg of this chemical costs Rs 25-30, which can ripen 10 tonne fruit), it is indiscriminately used by traders in preference to other recommended practices.“I was shocked to see needles in the musk melon last summer while I was savouring my favorite fruit. I came to know that it was artificially ripened and from that time I have stopped eating water melons and musk melons. But this is not the solution and the department should take some strict steps to see this rampant adulteration going on,” said Harminder Singh, a city resident.The Health Department on the other hand maintained that they have been keeping a check on these rampant practices and destroying over-ripened fruits from time to time.The perils

• The colours used in artificial ripening of fruits and vegetables include sudan red, methanol yellow and lead chromate. It has proved to be carcinogenic for humans if consumed over a long period of time
• Carbide, which is used to ripen fruits, is harmful for liver and kidney, while methanol yellow can cause cancer, stomach ailments and degeneration of the male reproductive organs
• Lead chromate can causes anaemia, brain damage and blindness
• Sudan red is also harmful for stomach and digestion

Test yourself 

• Green chillies, green peas and other vegetables
• Adulterant: Malachite Green (To accentuate the bright, glowing green colour of the vegetable)
• Test: Take a small portion of the sample and place it over a moistened white blotting paper. Coloured impressions on the blotting paper indicate the presence of Malachite green.

Awareness the key

• People must go for seasonal fruits and vegetables. Keep these under running water for a few minutes, so that the chemicals are washed away
• Wash fruits thoroughly before consuming
• Always cut the fruit into pieces, rather than consuming directly
• Fruits that have a uniform colour are more likely to have been artificially ripened
• Do not buy fruits when these arrive in mandis before the due period. You can be almost sure that they are artificially ripened for better marketing and earning profits
• While eating mangoes and apples, cut the fruit into pieces, rather than consuming directly
• What looks attractive outside may not be good for health. Fruits that have a uniform colour, for example a bunch of bananas having a uniform colour, are more likely to have been ripened artificially