RAJKOT: It’s summer and the demand for tender coconut water will soar above the mercury. Many farmers, however, use poisonous monocrotophos pesticide in coconut plants to kill insect and also increase yield.
While you may think of coconut water as an elixir, long term consumption of pesticide-laced coconut water can also lead to many unwanted diseases. But don’t worry, you can now check for yourself to find if the coconut water you are relishing is pesticide free or not.
Researchers at chemistry department of Kutch University have claimed to have developed a chemical reagent that can identify pesticide residue in coconut water. A reagent is a substance or compound added to cause, or test a chemical reaction. The varsity is now planning to register a patent for this innovation, which is part of an MSc dissertation work.
According to researchers, farmers have to wait for 45 days before harvesting coconut once they apply pesticide. But in many cases, farmers harvest earlier to earn more, thus feeding people pesticide-laced coconut water.
Students Manali Goswami and Narendrasinh Ravubha Chudasama developed the reagent under the guidance of assistant professor Vijay Ram. Chudasama has a coconut orchard at his village in Mangrol taluka in Junagadh district. Here he separated the fruits into ones with pesticide and the other organic.
“A person has to mix this reagent with peel or coconut water and if the colour turn red, then pesticide has been used. We conducted some tests in our chemistry laboratory to find that the results shown are correct. The reddish colour water had chemical residue, which was confirmed even by laboratory testing,” said Prof Ram, adding that the students now want to establish the quantity of chemical residue in the fruit water.
“We collected both coconut water with and without chemical residue and conducted nearly 100 trials in one month to prove that our reagent works perfectly,” the student duo said.
Prof Ram said that they would want to develop a testtube kit with this reagent which will be put up commercially in the market once they get the patent. “Traders may also check pesticide in the orchards using this kit before purchasing coconut which will eliminate the possibility of coconut grown with pesticide coming into the market,” he added.