Are you sure you're washing your fruit and vegetables correctly? How to make your own DIY vinegar sanitizer

Fresh fruit and vegetables are essential components of our diets and should be consumed daily to ensure we get right amount of vitamins and minerals to keep us healthy. Before eating, it is important to wash fruit and vegetables - not only because we don't know who touched them before we got them home, but also to remove any residue of germs, bacteria, pesticides and other pollutants that may have got on them.

But can you be sure that just a quick rinse under running water is sufficient to eliminate all the germs, bacteria other possible pollutants on fruit and vegetables? For a truly effective cleansing, it is necessary to use a detergent that has an antiseptic and disinfectant action and here, DIY remedies can come to your aid: vinegar has great cleaning power in this regard (and will also help you keep your food fresh for longer).

Let's find out more about how to use vinegar to clean fruit and vegetables:

Why vinegar is suitable for cleaning fruit and vegetables

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Water alone may not be enough for you to eliminate all the pollutants and germs present on fruit and vegetables. But, by adding white vinegar or apple cider vinegar, you can. In fact, vinegar contains approximately 5% acetic acid, which kills germs, spores and bacteria present on fruit and vegetables. Vinegar's cleaning action - exploited for many domestic cleaning chores - can safely be used for this task and without leaving any toxic residue.

But the usefulness of vinegar does not end here: by eliminating almost all bacteria and harmful spores, vinegar will also guarantee a longer shelf-life for your fruit and vegetables (if you dry them off properly after washing and store them carefully).

If you want to enhance the efficacy of using vinegar, you can also add some lemon juice to it (lemon juice has , with its effecetive antimicrobial properties too). 

How to use vinegar for washing fruit and vegetables

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You can use vinegar to wash your vegetables using one of two different methods:

• Immersion: pour a solution composed of 70% water and 30% white or apple vinegar (which will not alter the flavor of the food) into a clean, sanitized basin or bowl. Then, immerse your fruit or vegetables in this solution for 20 minutes. Rinse off under running water and consume immediately (or dry off thoroughly and store away);
• Spraying: another quick and practical method for cleaning fruit and vegetables, is to prepare a solution using equal parts of vinegar, water and lemon juice. Put this mixture into a spray bottle and shake thoroughly to mix. Spray your fruit and vegetables with this mixture and leave to act for 10 minutes before rinsing off thoroughly under running water. Consume immediately (or dry off thoroughly and store away).

Thanks to these simple methods, your fruit and vegetables will always be perfectly sanitized.