If you are going to eat a strawberry, make sure it has been properly cleaned before consuming it. The advice may seem like a joke, but it’s not.
Videos of the surface of a strawberry made with an optical microscope show the presence of living microorganisms, such as mites. Further analyzes even indicate the possible existence of bacteria causing diarrhea.
This small “ecosystem”, comprising small insects living on the surface of the strawberry, is causing buzz on social networks around the world. On Twitter, a video subtitled in Arabic has already been viewed 2.7 million times. Although its origin is unknown, other work has already revealed the creatures that live there, such as work by YouTube channel Super Up Close, which found a tiny ant on the fruit.
In the video, tweeted and shared hundreds of times, a type of tiny mite can be seen that lives on strawberries and “lays” its eggs in the leaf veins. This is most likely the spider mite (Tetranychus urticae). According to a study by Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa), the species can be found in strawberry plantations in Brazil.
However, the spider mite is not the only one that can attack strawberries. After all, other species, like Tetranychus desertorum and Tetranychus ludeni, can also be identified. Additionally, other types of tiny insects can live in plantations and possibly be captured by scanning with microscopes, or even by human eyes, depending on the species. This is the case of the fruit weevil (Lobiopa insularis), which invades and lays its eggs inside the strawberry.
In more detailed analyses, researchers at the Pontifical Catholic University of Goiás in Brazil conducted a series of studies on what was on the surface of strawberries. Two researches took samples from Goiânia and were published in the Brazilian Journal of Clinical Analyzes (RBAC) in 2021.
In the first study, the university team took strawberries collected from markets and supermarkets to the lab. Of the 51 samples analyzed, 78.4% (40) tested positive for the presence of enteroparasites, i.e. parasites that can inhabit the gastrointestinal system, such as protozoan cysts and eggs of nematodes. To name a few species, amoebae such as Entamoeba coli and Entamoeba histolytica, and roundworms (Ascaris lumbricoides) have been found.
Another group of researchers from the same University of Goiás studied the bacteria present on the surface of the strawberry and, again, the findings are surprising. This research detected the presence of the bacterium Escherichia coli, known to cause diarrhea, in 5.9% of the 51 samples analyzed.
“During handling, from planting to harvesting, packaging, transport and distribution to different points of sale, until it reaches consumers, the strawberry can be exposed to various types of contamination, whether by viruses, bacteria, fungi and/or parasites”, underline the researchers of the PUC Goiás.
“Thus, the consumption of fresh strawberries can represent a source of pathogenic microorganisms, and when this food is not properly cleaned, it can lead to foodborne illnesses (DTAs)”, conclude the scientists. Morality: systematically clean your strawberries by passing them under water. This will guarantee that you can enjoy these tasty seasonal fruits without risking getting sick!