After you buy fresh cilantro at the grocery store, it is essential to wash the cilantro before use to remove any dirt or grit from the leaves and stems of the plant.
Give it a Saltwater Soak
Research suggests that soaking fruits and vegetables in a 10 percent saltwater solution for 20 minutes gets rid of most of the residues from the four most common pesticides.
Fresh cilantro is often very sandy, so it's best to clean it as soon as you get home from the grocery store. Because the leaves and stems are so tender, I like to wash it in a large bowl (such as my salad spinner) of cold water. Change the water once or twice and wash again, until no more grit remains.
Herbs like basil, cilantro, and parsley are typically served fresh, which means that if they go unwashed, eating them can potentially expose you to harmful bacteria like salmonella and E. coli.
In addition to fruits and vegetables, some herbs used in cooking, such as cilantro, can contain surprisingly high pesticide levels.
Always wash your fruits and vegetables
Use salt, bicarb or vinegar to soak your vegetables for around 20 minutes to remove pesticides and bacteria. Avoid eating fruits and vegetables straight from the packet, even if they are organic.
Rinsing: Rinsing produce in warm water for at least one minute or longer can help reduce pesticide presence on produce. Soaking: Soaking produce in warm water is one of the easiest and most effective ways to remove pesticide residues.
Do you include stems when chopping cilantro? Typically, not the long stems. They can be eaten but will not have much flavor and a woodier texture when eaten. You will get rid of the bulk of the stems when you cut them off before chopping the leaves.
If your cilantro does go limp, you can attempt to revive it. The experts at Cook's Illustrated recommend soaking lackluster leaves in cold water for ten minutes to bring them back to life.
Loosely cover the leaves with an upside-down plastic bag and pop it in the fridge. Storing cilantro this way will keep it fresh for as long as a month — just make sure to occasionally refresh the water in the jar. You can also use this same method for other leafy herbs like parsley and mint.
They found that those people who said cilantro tastes like soap share a common smell-receptor gene cluster called OR6A2. This gene cluster picks up the scent of aldehyde chemicals. Natural aldehyde chemicals are found in cilantro leaves, and those chemicals are also used during soapmaking.
White, fluffy growth on the leaves of a cilantro plant signify an outbreak of a fungus, powdery mildew. Powdery mildew of cilantro is unlikely to kill the plant but does make it less productive and the leaves can develop an “off” flavor. The fungus appears on leaves and stems.
Baking soda, whose alkalinity helps to neutralize many common acidic pesticides, is generally thought to be the most effective produce wash.
The Winner: Baking Soda
Only the test cards applied to grapes treated with baking soda solution turned blue, indicating that it was effective at removing pesticides.
All produce, from leafy greens or fresh herbs to firm fruits and veggies, should be washed before eating. Use baking soda and cold water when washing produce to help remove chemical residue and dirt.
Organic Cilantro is preferred for their superiority in taste, and benefits to health, as well as the environment. They add an added kick to salsa, guacamole, curried dishes, and mixed green salads.
The study found at least one pesticide residue in 174 (94.6%) of the samples tested. Of these 174 samples, 125 (71.8%) samples contained at least 1 violative residue (PDP, 2011). Of the eight samples of cilantro tested in the current work, seven (87.5%) were found to contain pesticide residues.
Cilantro is the name for the leaves and stems of the coriander plant. When the plant flowers and turns to seed, the seeds are called coriander. Cilantro is also the Spanish word for coriander. Here, learn ways to use the flavorful herb and spice from the entirely edible cilantro plant.
You can keep keep cilantro fresh for up to one month in the fridge, by properly cleaning and trimming stems, and storing in one inch of water, loosely covered for air circulation.
It's in Your Genes
What's the deal behind this peculiar phenomenon? According to a genetic survey by researchers at Cornell University, there's a very specific gene that makes some people strongly dislike the taste of cilantro. After surveying nearly 30,000 people, the scientists singled it down to the OR6A2 gene.