Fruit Preservative Chemical Matrix: Powerless?

Fruit ripening and preservation chemicals are widely used, but the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) affirms: it has not licensed any of them.

Many types of apples sold in VietnamMaleusing preservatives, but unclear about safety. Photo: Pham Anh.

The minister can only ask questions.

Ms. Pham Thi Vuong, acting director of the Plant Protection Institute, when talking to Tien Phong reporter about fruit preservatives, wondered: “I used to buy Chinese apples and oranges, and they could last for months without spoiling. Seeing that, I was scared and did not dare to eat them.”

According to Ms. Vuong, many countries in the world currently use chemical preservatives to preserve harvested fruits for longer. However, they still preserve them in cold environments, at temperatures appropriate to each specific type of fruit.

“As for fruits from China, I don’t know what other technology they use. If it’s safe, we should also learn from it,” said Ms. Vuong.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat recently brought up the issue of the “apple” mentioned above to the meeting table and requested clarification. Mr. Phat said: “I have heard many stories about people using a lot of chemicals to preserve and ripen fruits. Now when purchasing, they buy the whole garden, instead of waiting for each fruit to ripen to pick. When they bring home some fruits are ripe and some are green, so they have to use chemicals to ripen them all at the same time, to make them look nice. So how should we organize control of this area?”

According to Mr. Phat, the problem is not only "shelved" in the import part, but domestically, valuable agricultural products and fruits, traders also use preservatives, and in many cases we have not been able to control.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hong, Director of Plant Protection Department, said that currently exporting countries do not export tree-ripened fruits because it is difficult to preserve them at that stage and the quality decreases rapidly. With fruits, when they are still green (nearly ripe) such as bananas, sapodilla, durian, jackfruit, etc., they are often picked first to incubate. In our country, we often use calcium carbide and incense for incubating; but in the world, many countries such as the US, Australia, EU, etc. use safe chemicals.

According to Mr. Hong, in essence, those preservatives are safe, because they originate from plant hormones, organic acids, etc. The task of those substances is to limit "respiration", keep the fruit for a long time, and prevent rotting. Mr. Hong said: "Currently, the Fuzi red apples sold in Vietnam are not only imported from China, but also from the US, New Zealand, and Australia. I guarantee that if you put those apples together, the US, Australian, and New Zealand apples will last much longer than the Chinese apples."

Illegal

The use of chemicals to preserve fruit has made consumers worried about its safety. Meanwhile, the leader of the Plant Protection Department affirmed that no license has been granted to any entity to trade or use the group of growth regulators and ripening stimulants in Vietnam. That means the chemicals currently used to preserve our fruits are illegal. However, according to the Plant Protection Department, there are two businesses that want to bring safe preservative chemicals into Vietnam.Maleand is currently in the testing phase. It is expected that the first license for fruit preservatives can be issued by the end of 2013.

According to the leader of the Plant Protection Department, currently in the world, the only known ripening agent is Ethylene. Recently, in theMale, some preservatives (hormones) were illegally imported from China. After that, the department analyzed it and found out that it was Ethephon 28%. This substance dissolves in the solution, producing ethylene, which is essentially a plant hormone, making ripe fruit fragrant. This substance is also used in organic agriculture, and is safe.

Regarding Ethephon, Mr. Nguyen Nhu Tiep, Director of the Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Product Quality Management, said that this is a substance that the EU, US, Japan... allow for use, but in Vietnam...MaleNo business has registered to trade this growth regulator product. Therefore, if Ethephon is found during testing, it is just an "illegal" drug. However, Mr. Tiep said: "Ethephon is safe, but besides that, is there anything else? If it is safe, there must be testing, evaluation, and licensing so that people know."

Minister Phat also said: “Many people told me that they kept apples and oranges fresh for months, so they definitely used preservatives. But whether these substances are safe or not, we need to clarify.”

According to tienphong.PH