Those who love the sweet fruit, must now be strong. A trick shows: Worms hide in strawberries. To make them visible, you need to wash strawberries in salt water.
The strawberry season starts soon. I'm already excited, for me there's nothing better than fresh strawberries. Their sweet and sour taste makes them very special in yogurt, smoothies or pure.
To pass the time, I hit the supermarket. I just could not pass it by. The sweet red fruits already entice with wonderful fragrance.
But what is it? TikTok claims that the berries are full of worms. Is there really anything to it? Washing strawberries in salt water is supposed to solve this problem.
Will I lose my appetite? Let's see.
What happens when you wash strawberries in salt water
It's very simple. You need strawberries, a large bowl and ordinary salt. Put the strawberries in the bowl and after a few minutes the salt water will attract small white worms from the berries.
And this is anything but an isolated case. On TikTok you can find 29 million videos under #strawberrybugs that prove exactly that.
In most, small white worms can be seen making their way out of the strawberries. Sometimes one or the other beetle also floats in the bowl.
Most often they are larvae of fruit flies. They lay the eggs on the ripe fruit. Like us, the larvae enjoy juicy and sweet fruits.
Delicious and worm free: DIY strawberry syrup
Why you don't need to wash strawberries in salt water
So what to do with worms in strawberries? The only way to prevent an infestation would be to use even more pesticides. But this is not a reasonable solution.
Wash the strawberries in salt water, but honestly also not. After all, the fruit is very sensitive to pressure and take the taste of salt - especially because you have to leave them in the salt water for some time. In addition, salt removes water from the fruit.
Nevertheless, you should always wash the fruit before eating. The best way to do this is in a cold water bath. Some experts recommend a mixture of water and a tablespoon of vinegar to eliminate mold spores.
Are worms in strawberries harmful?
No, they are neither poisonous nor do they harm us in any other way. But they are admittedly quite disgusting.
You have to watch the videos with a certain amount of serenity. See it an extra load of protein that you can always put to good use 😅
More serious problems are caused by molds and pesticides, which can be found on all purchased strawberries. Unless you choose organic fruit. But even here mold does not stop.
Unfortunately, washing strawberries in salt water does little for mold. In large quantities, the fungi can cause poisoning and be responsible for liver and kidney damage.
Better than bought: Grow strawberries in the window box!
How to prevent your strawberries from containing worms
In principle, any strawberry can be infested with maggots. However, it is mainly those that are dark red and have squishy bruises. As a rule, we do not eat them anyway.
When picking or buying strawberries, if you make sure the berries have firm flesh and no bruises, then maggots are less likely.
The color of berries should be red, but not too dark and certainly not mushy. Fresh berries smell sweet and aromatic. They have green leaves that are not dried up and a green stalk.
When you buy berries in the supermarket, be sure to look at the skin from below. This is where rotten and mushy fruit often hides.
Our conclusion
Washing strawberries in salt water drives the worms out of the fruit. But it also makes them mushy, salty and watery. Better to just rinse them with cold water and forget you ever heard of worms in strawberries.
After all, it hasn't killed us yet either. 😁
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