Apples that don’t go brown

This month, a special kind of sliced apple will go on sale at select US supermarkets, and thanks to CSIRO research these apples won't turn brown when they're cut, bitten or bruised.

Arctic apples are the first of their kind to feature CSIRO's non-browning technology.

The first product will be snack-sized bags of fresh Arctic Golden apple slices, with more non-browning varieties expected in future years, including Granny Smith and Fuji.

While there may be other sliced apple products already on the market, these are often coated with vitamin C and calcium to prevent browning and to preserve crispness, and this can change their taste.

Apples and other fruit and vegetables turn brown after they are cut or damaged because of a naturally occurring enzyme (polyphenol oxidase or PPO) that reacts with other components in the fruit cells when these cells are 'broken', producing a brown pigment.

CSIRO scientists constructed an anti-PPO gene which, when inserted into plants, blocks the production of PPO and therefore stops the browning.

Spoilage due to browning costs food processing industries worldwide millions of dollars each year in wastage and costly chemicals to prevent the reaction.

This non-browning technology has potential to reduce waste not only in apples and potatoes but also in other important horticultural crops, such as beans, lettuce and grapes where produce with only small injuries could still be sold.

What do you think? Would you like to be able to buy fruit that wouldn’t bruise?

7 comments

MAybe they are GMO?   I had some like this a few months ago tadted one and it was awful so cut another and had it a month open to the air and never went brown or bad -- and the others -- 2 of them-- never went bad either when kept whole.  

This does not seem natural to me at all

You are correct PlanB when you suggest that these apples are genetically modified. However, you must not forget that virtually all the fruit and vegetables that you consider to be natural have been artificially selected by scientists and farmers over centuries. 

The science today does the same but it just shortens the time involved. When a gene is added or modified to, say an apple, the apple is still the same except for either an extra protein or, as in this case, one protein less. This missing protein is the enzyme that causes the browning. 

Fruit and veg that sits stored in cool rooms for many months before it gets sold are not fresh. Stop tampering with people's food for greedy profit. Killing off the population over money is not ethical. Don't buy,  grow your own instead or buy organic.

You are using without knowing it, many foods that are genetically modified including Canola oil. If people really care about the starving millions, then they should welcome genetically modified food.

You’re right Bijou. 

Australia only grows two GM crops and they are Canola and cotton neither of which have proteins that are consumed by people. 

You’re right Bijou. 

Australia only grows two GM crops and they are Canola and cotton neither of which have proteins that are consumed by people. 

I say leave our food alone -- nature knows best

 

Nothing tastes the same as it used to,  or like it should these days

 

7 comments



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