Pune scientist develops wash to remove pesticides from fruits, vegetables

3 min readPuneJul 29, 2026 12:34 PM IST Asmita Prabhune is known for creating a Make-in-India, natural, alcohol-free sanitizer to combat Covid-19 in 2020, An apple a day famously keeps the doctor away. But a scientist from the CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) in Pune, Asmita Prabhune, asks, “How clean is the apple, or any other fruit and vegetable that we bite into?” Fruit and vegetables are among the healthiest foods on our plates. Yet, by the time they travel from farm to fork, they may have picked up a cocktail of pesticide residues, dust, pollution and microorganisms. In June this year, Nepal banned Indian mangoes over pesticide concerns. For the past few years, some European countries have been rejecting Indian agricultural products for similar reasons. The hazards of pesticide