[EvaH (OP)]

Shaul asks:

What is the the the best way to wash fruits and vegetables (against germs, viruses, and pesticides)? FDA recommends washing vegetables  only with water, others say that the best way is with salt water or vinegar or baking soda solution. I simply do no know which one is the science.

Can you help?

[Bored chemist]

The FDA does science.

[alancalverd]

If you are worried about pesticide residues on edible fruit skins, particularly apples and grapes, add a drop of washing-up detergent to the water. You will probably peel and/or cook vegetables so just washing the mud off will suffice.

Rinsing cooked green veg with baking soda can restore their color a bit, but they should be sterile by the time they are edible - it's just a chef's cosmetic trick.

The only imponderable is salad items which can be contaminated with lyophilic human pathogens. Friends in less hygienic countries sometimes dunk them in catering-quality hypochlorite solution or avoid raw veg altogether.

[Bored chemist]

Rinsing cooked green veg with baking soda can restore their color a bit, but they should be sterile by the time they are edible - it's just a chef's cosmetic trick.

It keeps them green, but trashes the vitamin C.
This may or may not matter depending on the rest of your diet.

What is the the the best way to wash fruits and vegetables (against germs, viruses, and pesticides)

Funny thing about pesticides; they choose things that are not very toxic to humans.
It's as if they thought it through
I would, for example, be much more concerned about toxins produced by fungi than by fungicides.

[Antony Silva]

If you are sure of the purity of vegetables and fruits, then you can do with running water. For purchase rules are different. First of all, we get rid of wax and paraffin. To do this, wash fruits and vegetables in water using a separate brush, and then rinse them under the tap.

If vegetables and fruits are bought for children, then we first soak the future salad or dessert in cold water (at the same time we will get rid of the share of harmful substances inside the fruit, if any), and then we wash it in the usual way and cut off the skin. Of course, for homemade apples this "trick" will be unnecessary, but for glossy apples it is highly recommended.

If you have washed fruits and vegetables, then eat them immediately or put them in jams, salads, etc. Do not store them for a long time after washing. Firstly, they quickly deteriorate, and secondly, they lose vitamins and other useful substances.

Use only stainless steel appliances for cleaning.

If you have yellow spots on your vegetables (zucchini, cucumbers, or potatoes), get rid of them immediately and without thinking. Such spots are a sign of excess nitrates. You can reduce nitrate levels by soaking potatoes or carrots in salted water for a day. But along with nitrates, you will also get rid of vitamins.

Fruits and vegetables prepared for feeding babies are recommended to be washed not with running water, but with distilled water.

Never use dishwashing detergent or regular fruit and vegetable soap. Chemical components can get under the skin of the fruit and cause poisoning.

Means for washing vegetables and fruits - shop and home
Whoever advises you to use laundry soap - or any dishwashing detergent - to process fruits and vegetables, reaffirming the efficacy of the classic "well, you see, nothing happened to me" - don't listen! A categorical prohibition of these products when washing fruits! They are not washed to the end (even if this is a children's "ECO-remedy"), and the components of the product, along with fruits and vegetables, are sent directly to the body.

[Bored chemist]

If you are sure of the purity of vegetables and fruits, then you can do with running water. For purchase rules are different. First of all, we get rid of wax and paraffin. To do this, wash fruits and vegetables in water using a separate brush, and then rinse them under the tap.

If vegetables and fruits are bought for children, then we first soak the future salad or dessert in cold water (at the same time we will get rid of the share of harmful substances inside the fruit, if any), and then we wash it in the usual way and cut off the skin. Of course, for homemade apples this "trick" will be unnecessary, but for glossy apples it is highly recommended.

If you have washed fruits and vegetables, then eat them immediately or put them in jams, salads, etc. Do not store them for a long time after washing. Firstly, they quickly deteriorate, and secondly, they lose vitamins and other useful substances.

Use only stainless steel appliances for cleaning.

If you have yellow spots on your vegetables (zucchini, cucumbers, or potatoes), get rid of them immediately and without thinking. Such spots are a sign of excess nitrates. You can reduce nitrate levels by soaking potatoes or carrots in salted water for a day. But along with nitrates, you will also get rid of vitamins.

Fruits and vegetables prepared for feeding babies are recommended to be washed not with running water, but with distilled water.

Never use dishwashing detergent or regular fruit and vegetable soap. Chemical components can get under the skin of the fruit and cause poisoning.

Means for washing vegetables and fruits - shop and home
Whoever advises you to use laundry soap - or any dishwashing detergent - to process fruits and vegetables, reaffirming the efficacy of the classic "well, you see, nothing happened to me" - don't listen! A categorical prohibition of these products when washing fruits! They are not washed to the end (even if this is a children's "ECO-remedy"), and the components of the product, along with fruits and vegetables, are sent directly to the body.

Do you also turn them three times counterclockwise by the light of the new moon?

[queenofscience]

Hi, I always put a tablespoon of vinegar into the water where I wash my fruit and let them sit in it for a few minutes. Then I rinse them. Makes them perfectly clean and leaves no aftertaste. 

[Bored chemist]

Makes them perfectly clean

How did you test this?

[Osogovo]

maybe quicker way would be UV-C disinfection, tho this is risky if the uv-v lamp is not shielded in box as carcinogenic radiation for the skin ...