From Agricultural Waste to Food Safety: 13-Year-Old Arika Kundu’s Amazing Innovation
Great invension: How only 13-Year-Old Arika Kundu Turned Waste Peanut Shells into an Eco-Friendly Solution That Removes Nearly 94% of Pesticide Residues from Fruits and Vegetables! Food safety is becoming a major concern around the world. Fruits and vegetables often contain harmful pesticide residues. Washing them with water removes dirt, but it may not remove all the chemicals. A 13-year-old Indian-American student, Arika Kundu , has found a smart and eco-friendly solution to this problem. Arika studies in Grade 7 at Minnetonka Middle School East in Shorewood, Minnesota. She created a simple and low-cost way to remove pesticide residues from fresh produce by using peanut shells , which are usually thrown away as waste. Her creative project has earned her a place among the Top 10 national finalists in the 2026 3M Young Scientist Challenge . What Is Project LIGNEX? Arika named her project: LIGNEX – A new biosorption-based method that uses agricultural waste to remove...
