After cherries are soaked in salt water, white worms will crawl out from inside. Why is this? This situation makes many people who want to try them hesitate.
Can cherries really be soaked to produce worms? Zhang Kaichun, Deputy Director of the Forestry and Fruit Research Institute of the Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences and head of the cherry research team, explains that the small white worms from salt water are fruit fly larvae. Rainy weather or bruises can cause a small number of cherries to crack and rot, and the fruity smell attracts fruit flies to lay eggs under the skin. These eggs hatch into larvae inside the cherries. After soaking in salt water, the water creates an anoxic environment for the fruit fly larvae, and the salt stimulates them, causing them to crawl out of the skin. This is what some netizens have seen as the small white worms.
In addition to cherries, high-sugar fruits like watermelon and grapes, as well as fruits like bayberries, blueberries, and strawberries, are also favorite places for fruit flies to lay eggs. This is a normal phenomenon.
Cherries take only over 40 days from flowering to maturity, have high requirements for temperature and humidity, and most cherry varieties have good pest resistance. Generally, no pesticides are used during the growth process. Only after harvesting is pesticide spraying begun to protect the leaves. Therefore, cherries are a relatively safe fruit. Only a very small portion of cherries on the market are infested with fruit flies, so everyone can buy them with confidence.
Fruit flies are different from the common houseflies we usually see. From birth to adulthood, their larvae feed on the fruit flesh and are not parasitic or pathogenic. Besides making consumers feel uncomfortable psychologically, they are completely safe to eat even if consumed.
Finally, if you are worried about worms, you can soak the cherries in light salt water for about half an hour before eating, but this will slightly affect the taste of the cherries.