THE HUMBLE APPLE: the namesake of celebrity offspring; the bruised red fruit children dread finding at the bottom of their
Halloween candy bag (and not just because of the threat of concealed razor
blades); the ingredient of pies and sauces and juice; the things hurled at
Dorothy in Wizard
of Oz.
THEY are bobbed for; or they used to be. (Do kids still do that?)
British
author W. H. Davenport Adams describes the bobbing game as it existed
around the turn of the 20th century in his 1902 book, Curiosities of
Superstition: [1]
“[The apples] are
thrown into a tub of water, and you endeavour to catch one in your mouth as
they bob round and round in provoking fashion. When you have caught one, you
peel it carefully, and pass the long strip of peel thrice, sunwise, round
your head; after which you throw it over your shoulder, and it falls to the
ground in the shape of the initial letter of your true love's name.”
THEY are packed in school lunches, left on teacher's desks and picked by the bushel on family outings in the fall.
We are told they are nature's toothbrush; told that eating one a day will keep the doctor away.
THEY are ... (perhaps strangely) ...
one of the haunting images that lingered with me after reading In Cold
Blood: Of Mr. Clutter, with his good strong set of white teeth, crunching
on apples.
“Once, he went out to
the kitchen and came back with two apples; he offered one to me, but I didn't
want it, so he ate them both. He had very white teeth; he said apples were why.” [2]
THEY are symbolic of innocence lost,
and of that which is forbidden; of sin and seduction, redemption, knowledge,
love, beauty, cunning, good fortune and of course, Eureka! Moments, cue Sir
Isaac:
The most famous
anecdote of discovery in science is how Newton’s apple inspired the notion of
gravity as a universal force. In 1752, William Stukeley set down the story in
his manuscript, Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton’s life, as it was told to him by
Newton himself:
“Why should that apple
always descend perpendicularly to the ground, thought he to himself, occasioned
by the fall of an apple, as he sat in contemplative mood.”
 |
One reputed descendant of
Newton's apple tree at Trinity
College, Cambridge [4] |
SO why all this rambling on about 'dem' apples?
Because I recently read that genetically engineered 'Arctic Apples' have
been approved for sale in Canada and the U.S. And no, it was not the mere fact that GMO
apples have been approved for sale that got my attention. It was the reasoning behind the
modification: Apples with flesh that doesn't brown when
exposed to air.
- Is this really necessary?
- Have dramatic apple eating pauses become a thing?
- When did it become problematic
for us to eat an apple before it turns brown?
And if it is a problem, say if
you’re baking, (perhaps?) is not a squeeze of fresh lemon sufficient to prevent
browning from happening?
And even if, horror of horrors, an apple does start to turn brown, that doesn't mean it’s gone off ... does it? Because I'm pretty sure I've eaten slightly browned apple flesh before, and clearly I've lived to tell. My kid brain had always equated apple browning to how the bread of my PB&J would crisp up a bit if air seeped into the Ziploc (as in, not a big deal!); as opposed to say, the acknowledged hazards of drinking the chunky milk of my college days (the milk that floated to the top of my coffee like plastic snowflakes).
Forget about my chunky college milk; clearly if they've gone and done this with the apples it must be for reasons beyond mere aesthetics. And if so ... My god! It’s a wonder I survived my childhood, what, with the humble
apple alone posing so many threats: concealed razor blades, pried out baby
teeth, bobbing related hypothermia or drowning, head injuries from orchards; and now we can add to that list (because it had never occurred to me before) callously placed time
limits on our lingering second bite.
Just who do these non-GMO apples think they are?
Fortunately, we can now all breathe a little easier, comforted in the
knowledge that browning apples have been eliminated from the list of worries keeping us awake at night.
Okay, okay, I'll rein in the sarcasm. As with most things in life, there are various perspectives from
which one can view this, or any story. Perspectives which may force me to, if not eat my
words, perhaps, partake in a piece of humble apple pie.
AS I mentioned above, Arctic Apples have been genetically
engineered not to brown when sliced or eaten.
This non-browning trait
was developed and patented by Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc. (OSF)
based in Summerland B.C., Canada.
The process involves adding a ‘silencing’
gene sequence into the cultivar’s DNA, thereby turning down the expression of polyphenol oxidase, which, in turn prevents the fruit from browning.[5][6][12]
After a three year review, The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada have approved Arctic Apples for commercial sale in Canada.
According to Health Canada, the Arctic Apple "is safe for consumption, still has all its nutritional value and therefore does not differ from other apples available on the market." [9]
This announcement followed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of Arctic Apples.
In a press release, Neal Carter, co-founder of OSF said:[9]
"We are pleased that the FDA has completed their consultative review of our first two Arctic Apple varieties, and their conclusion that they are as safe and nutritious as their conventional counterparts is gratifying and should give consumers full confidence in the healthfulness of Arctic Apples."
- Arctic apples have more
eye appeal: no yucky browning
- Arctic apples have more
mouth appeal: more of the apple’s natural flavor shines through
- Arctic apples have more
nutritional appeal: our health-supporting antioxidants aren’t burned up by a
browning reaction
- Arctic apples have
health appeal: without the yuck factor, more apples get eaten, promoting your
better health and healthier weight
- Arctic apples have
pocketbook appeal: when more apples get eaten, fewer apples get thrown away
SO, just what is that, 'yucky browning' they are referring to? [8]
In the presence of
oxygen, PO catalyzes the first steps in the biochemical
conversion of phenolics to produce quinones, which undergo further
polymerization to yield dark, insoluble polymers referred to as melanins.
These melanins form barriers
and have antimicrobial properties which prevent the spread of infection or
bruising in plant tissues. Plants, which exhibit comparably high resistance to
climatic stress, have been shown to possess relatively higher polyphenol oxidase
levels than susceptible varieties.
The reaction is not only dependent on the presence of oxygen, but also on the pH. The reaction does not occur at acid (pH <5) or alkaline (pH >8) conditions. [8]
Several methods can be
applied to avoid enzymatic browning. These
include: [8]
- Blanching
- Refrigeration /
Freezing
- Change pH
- Dehydration
- Irradiation
- High pressure treatment
- Addition of inhibitors
- Ultrafiltration
- Treatment with
supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2)
The prevention and control of enzymatic browning is one of the most important issues in the food industry, as browned fruits and vegetables are likely to be perceived by consumers as spoiled. [8]
CANADIAN apple sales (domestic & export) have been in steady
decline over the past decade. Some apple growers, like Okanagan Specialty
Fruits Inc., believe this is due (in large part) to perception: we eat (and
thus make our purchasing decisions) with our eyes.
It therefore stands to reason that the eyes and wallets of
consumers would be more receptive to packaged/prepared non-browning apples on
their grocer's shelves. [12]
The hope, presumably, is that the
change will do for apples what it did for those wee baby carrots—you know, because all that peeling and cutting, who needs it! (Though, personally, I find there is a whole world of difference in taste
between those wee stubby orange critters and the wonky gnarled carrots plucked whole from the ground. Then again, maybe my taste buds are wired for nostalgia.)
The B.C. Fruit Growers’
Association and the Fédération des producteurs de pommes du Québec have expressed their opposition on the basis of the potential confusion these products may pose to the
consumer.[12] (In Canada labeling of GMO products is voluntary)
Their concerns are not without merit.
In 1989, when the program 60
Minutes aired a story about the use of the controversial ripening agent Alar on
apples, the apple market crashed. [12]
Daminozide (Alar) —
was a chemical sprayed on apples to regulate growth and to prevent
them from falling off the trees before they were ripe. This ensured they were
red and firm for storage. In 1989 Alar was voluntarily withdrawn by the
manufacturer after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed
banning it based on concerns about cancer risks to consumers. [10][11]
Okanagan Specialty Fruit's Neal Carter says the
comparison with Alar is unfair and unrelated. [12]
“The Arctic apples have been through a
rigorous review and found to be safe. We’ve been very open and transparent
about the product.”
On the subject of safety, it is perhaps worth mentioning here that the only apple native to North America is the crab apple. [14]
And that, apple trees of the yummy variety were brought to North America by European colonists in the 17th century. [13]
And that since the complexities of apple genetics (some 57,000 genes), makes growing trees from seeds unpredictable, the current practice for commercial orchards is to propagate apple trees by cloning; usually by grafting a new stem from an existing tree onto
rootstock. [12]
As Carter notes: [12]
“Without human intervention, there would be essentially no edible
apples growing in North America.”
I DON'T KNOW. I guess if, big picture, this means more people will
eat more apples because they are packaged / presented in a more appetizing way and will
thus consume a source of antioxidants which might otherwise be lost on account
of that nasty browning (the apparent bane of the slow apple eater's existence); and if this helps the economy and breathes life into a dwindling agriculture
sector; then, perhaps this is ultimately a good thing, yes?
Though as someone who
never stopped buying apples; one who is not much bothered by bruising and
browning; one who possibly deprives herself (or perhaps not) of all nutritional
value by slathering apple slices in honey and cinnamon, I think I’ll just stick
to the good old fashioned McIntosh: apple of my childhood; apple of my mom’s
and her mom’s homemade apple pies; apple I traveled to orchards to pick with
them both as a child; and apple I no doubt stuck my head into an icy bucket of
water to pluck out with my teeth once upon a Halloween.
That said (and this is
not to comment either way on the merits of GMO foods—though, I'm feeling we have strayed far, far away from altruism with this particular application), I would indeed lament the day I walked into my local grocer to find
that this new variety of apple has replaced my old favorite, the misshapen and marred and
calloused and bruised all over McIntosh.
***
FIN
REFERENCES
[3]
https://royalsociety.org/library/moments/newton-apple/
[7]
http://www.arcticapples.com/about-arctic-apples/arctic-apple-benefits
[8]
http://www.food-info.net/uk/colour/enzymaticbrowning.htm
[10]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daminozide
IMAGE CREDITS
"Venus Verticordia - Dante Rossetti -
1866" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Licensed under Public Domain via
Wikimedia Commons -
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Venus_Verticordia_-_Dante_Rossetti_-_1866.jpg#/media/File:Venus_Verticordia_-_Dante_Rossetti_-_1866.jpg
"McIntosh with sticker by Lars Zapf
2006-03-30 cropped" by Lars Zapf at Flickr -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/larszapf/120305807/. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via
Wikimedia Commons -
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"Francisco de Zurbarán - A Virgem da Maçã,
1660-64" by Francisco de Zurbarán - [1]. Licensed under Public Domain via
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