How dangerous are worms in cherries for a child and how to get rid of them

Worms in a cherry some people completely leave the opportunity to enjoy this wonderful berry due to innate disgust.

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Worms in cherries do not pose a direct threat to the human body - they cannot take root in a child's body. But it is also impossible to say that these uninvited residents are absolutely harmless.

Worms in cherries appear due to the actions of the cherry fly, this is its larva. Small insects, approximately 3-5 mm in size, feed on the sweet secretions of cherry aphids, which infect young cherry shoots. Satisfied with these secretions, the adult cherry fly pierces the ripening cherry and leaves its eggs there. Because of this, an infected cherry begins to rot, often falling before ripening. Rotting cherries attract plenty of flies, which represent a real danger to the child's body, as carriers of various infectious diseases.

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That is: worms in cherries themselves are not dangerous. But the conditions created by them for breeding flies are a threat. Solution: get rid of worms and pour boiling water over the cherry well before giving it to the child.

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How to get rid of worms in cherries? It is possible to get rid of worms in cherries in a fairly simple and at the same time quite environmentally friendly way. You just need to soak the berries in salted water. After 15-20 minutes you will see worms in the water that have left their sweet homes. Salted water will not affect the taste of cherries, just rinse them with running water after expelling the worms from the cherries.

There is another way to expel worms from cherries, which may be even more acceptable for children. To expel a worm from a cherry, you need to do it with the help of a special device designed for removing pits from cherries. The fact is that worms in cherries are mainly located near the stone, removing it, you also remove the worm.

And one more very important point: the presence of worms in cherries indicates that during its cultivation, various pesticides were not used or were used in minimal quantities. Agree, this is at least dubious for some very squeamish people, but still a plus.

Source: Pixabay

True, there is one nuance here: sometimes the presence of worms in cherries is not a convincing sign that toxic chemicals were not used. They are often still used, but incorrectly, not when it is effective. Therefore, it does not affect the presence of worms in cherries: if the fly has already deposited its larva in the cherry, it is very difficult to resist the development of the worm: in this case, the tree must be "drowned" in pesticides.

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