Nowadays the habit of eating fruits and vegetables with variation is becoming very popular. It is essential that before eating fruits in different forms, one should have primary knowledge but how to handle the fruits so that they can be cooked and consumed by keeping their natural contents intact.The preserved fruits should be cleaned properly before eating. Many times the fruits are sprayed with pesticides and if these pesticides enter in our body even in very small amount, it can be dangerous for our body. The fruits are handled by various people right from plucking from the trees to selling in the market. This handling also increases the microorganisms on the fruits.In order to protect our body from these microorganisms, it is required to wash the fruits twice before eating.

To preserve the freshness of fruits, it is better to wash the fruits first with ice cold water and then wash them under running water.
While washing fruits under running water, use a clean toothbrush to brush the skin of the fruits slowly. This will remove all the harmful substances from the fruits. After washing, dry the fruits using a clean cloth. If possible we should use a separate knife for cutting the vegetables. The knife should be clean and dry. If cutting board is used then it should also be clean and dry. The fruits should be eaten immediately after cutting because if the cut fruit comes in contact with the air, the vitamin content in them reduces. Fruits like apple, chikoo should be eaten with their skin because the skin of these fruits is rich in vitamins. The cut pieces of fruits should be wrapped in plastic wrapper and stored in refrigerator and should be consumed as early as possible. Fruits like grapes, strawberries should be refrigerated in an open tray. This will remove the remaining water content from the fruits and the fruits remain fresh for a longer time.

We prepare milk shakes, fruit salads, ice-cream, lassi by using fruits and fruit juices. But it is suggested that the fruits should not be mixed with milk and consumed. Because ripe fruits contain casein proteins and when they are mixed with milk, it causes curdling of milk. The custard apple has fewer amounts of casein proteins and hence it can be mixed with milk to prepare rabdi. While preparing ice-cream using fruit pieces, the fruit pieces should be kept in sugar syrup for some time. The sugar absorbs the water content from the fruits. This destroys the cell structure resulting in softening of fruits.

The reaction of enzymes present in the fruits with air causes blackening of fruits.To prevent this, the fruits are brushed with lemon juice.
To prepare jams and jellies, it is preferred to use half ripen fresh fruits. As the fruits become stale, the composition of pectin destroys. Many times we use packed fruit juices but we should see the expiry date. These packed juices contain chemicals added for preservation. The packed juices should be used quickly because the vitamins in the fruits decrease from 5 to 10 percent in packed condition.