I came across on a video in facebook about vinegar. And I was scared the first time I saw it. It came from vinegars on street food vendors and even in natural vinegar. There's something in it that was seen in a microscope. It can't be seen in naked eyes but by zooming in a hundred times you can see moving and living eels. But when they're fully grown, you are able to see them with your eyes.
Are you scared of eels? As you can see, they really are the same as what we see in the ocean. I love to eat eels but not this one. Imagine taking or eating them alive could be dangerous.. What if they'll eat my intestine, or live inside my body? Noooo!!! Please!!
But wait! Please slow down a lil bit. let's find out first before judging these little creatures, who are they? And what are their purposes.... Are they really dangerous like, other parasite? Well, let's try to find out.
What are vinegar eels?
Vinegar eels are round worms we call nematodes and not actual eels. They feed on the live bacteria and yeast culture used to produce vinegar. These free-living nematodes can be found in unfiltered vinegar and are often raised and fed to fish fry as a live food.
Size: 2mm
Source: https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/the-science-of-vinegar-eels/
What do they do?
Vinegar eel, or Turbatrix aceti, are non-parasitic nematodes which thrive in unpasteurised apple cider vinegar, feeding on the bacteria which creates the vinegar.
Source: https://www.darwinbiological.co.uk/blogs/live-specimen-care/vinegar-eels-care
Well, things are getting cooler and calm now. They're not harmful to humans! They are not parasitic, like what we see on the movies lol. Huge worms that lives on the intestines and kill people. The are just natural, and can usually present in cane vinegar or apple cider. They can also be used as food for fishes. Great!
Are they safe if we swallow them?
Well.. Scary as they are, they aren't harmful to our stomach. Dont be rattle if you ate one, just wait for a couple of days and these nematodes will just digest and excrete the same way where our poop* will go.
But if you ask me? Naahhh I won't. There's plenty of delicious foods in our fridge. So, I won't dare to eat it. I'm still scared to intake them, though researchers proved that they aren't harmful.
Can we avoid these eels?
Well, if you don't like eels, like me! I don't like them too! We can just throw our vinegars if they're already grown. And start again.. Usually they'll appear when your vinegar reached 35+ days in your jar. We can still kill them through the use of chlorine. But it's better if we clean up sterilize and sanitize our jar and just throw them. Pour a newly harvested vinegar and there ya go! time to dip our fried chicken, and any other cripy stuff.
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Thank you for reading this article guys. I am not an expert about this matter, I just did a bit of research from the great researchers in each websites I visited.
Disclaimer: Photos are taken from google and are edited on picsart.
I hope you understand something about these small creatures. Vincent21 here again writing informative stuffs. Let's keep on supporting each other! Shalom!
strange snake