"99% of the cherries and cherries on the market use swelling agents. Normal cherries can only grow to 12 to 13 grams. With the swelling agent, they can be doubled. They can be matured early and listed half a month early... "During the season when delicious melons and fruits are concentrated on the market, a video recently declaring problems with the quality and safety of cherries spread on the Internet, causing consumers to panic. In response to related rumors, the reporter interviewed relevant experts.
"The fruit size of cherries is mainly related to varieties, but not related to the use of swelling agents." said Nie Jiyun, a professor at the College of Horticulture, Qingdao Agricultural University. The varieties of cherries cultivated in China are mainly European sweet cherries and Chinese cherries. European sweet cherries, commonly known as "big cherries", are also commonly referred to as cherries. At present, the average "big cherry" variety planted in my country has an average single fruit weight of 6 grams ("Red Honey") to 12 grams ("Mei Zao"). The maximum fruit weight of some varieties can exceed 13 grams, and the maximum fruit weight of "Yangyang" can reach 22.5 grams, which is the only variety known so far that the maximum fruit weight exceeds 20 grams. The so-called "swelling agent can double the'big cherry' single fruit to 26 grams" is not consistent with the facts.
Nie Jiyun introduced that in the production of cherries, cherries grown in the open field do not require the use of plant growth regulators, which is currently the mainstream mode of cherry cultivation in my country. Individual cherries planted in greenhouses are often difficult to pollinate, so plant growth regulators are usually used to increase pollination and fruit setting. Cherries that use plant growth regulators form parthenocarpy, and there will be no seeds, no fruits, etc. Phenomenon, but this is normal and does not affect the safety of cherry products and does not pose a risk to consumer health. In addition, there are a variety of cultivation measures to increase the yield of cherries. They can also thin flowers and fruits and strengthen fertilizer and water management. In particular, more organic fertilizers and potash fertilizers can improve fruit quality.
Xu Donghui, director of the Research Institute of Quality Safety and Testing Technology, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that plant growth regulators, also known as plant exogenous hormones, can promote the division and growth of plant cells. When it comes to "hormones", the public is easy to confuse plant hormones and animal hormones. In fact, the two are chemically different substances, and plant hormones will not produce hormone-like effects on humans. Conversely, animal hormones will not produce hormone-like effects on plants. "Bulking agents are a kind of plant growth regulators. Gibberellic acid and clopipramide are commonly used bulking agents in fruit production and can be increased to a certain extent. Fruit grains increase the weight of the fruit. But the bulking agent is not a ripening agent and does not promote fruit ripening."
According to reports, plant growth regulators are registered as pesticides in my country. When approving pesticide registration in my country, the period of medication, the dose of medication and the method of application are specified on the pesticide label, and the scope of use and the safety interval are marked. At the same time, my country has successively formulated the Guidelines for the Reasonable Use of Pesticides and pesticide residue standards to guide and regulate the use of pesticides.
Wang Qiang, director of the Agricultural Products Quality and Safety Risk Assessment Laboratory (Hangzhou) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said that although plant growth regulators are included in the scope of pesticide management, they are not pesticides for disease prevention, insect control, and weed control in the traditional sense. product Safety. For example, chlorpiramide, the risk assessment of chlorpiramide residues in fruits from 2015 to 2016 by the National Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Risk Assessment Project showed that the chronic and acute dietary exposures of chlorpiramide were 0.014% of the safe reference dose And below 0.012%.
Our reporter Qiao Jinliang