Making Apples Edible Longer

Genetic engineering bears non-browning fruit

by Meredith Small

An apple a day might be the easiest way to keep the doctor away, but if you don't eat that apple quickly it's bound to turn brown, unappetizing and be thrown in the trash. To fight that problem, Okanagan Specialty Fruits of Summerland, British Columbia, Canada, reinvented the apple so that it keeps its fresh color while sitting in a lunchbox or gracing a cheese platter. In short, Okanagan's scientists block the gene for polyphenol oxidase (PPO), which causes browning, the first stage of spoilage. Neal Carter, Okanagan's president, explains that the when the enzyme is inhibited, the apple doesn't go through the usual oxidizing process, and it takes much longer—up to 16 days—before secondary spoilage sets in.

"People identify with this benefit," Carter says. "Everybody is an apple expert. They know what they like and don't like, and browning comes up high on the list of what they don't like." People not only wrinkle their noses at the brown scuff marks, bruises and discoloration of apples, they also know the brown parts simply don't taste all that good. That's especially true for kids who wrinkle their noses and say "ewww" at the merest hint of apply browning. And since children and their busy parents represent a significant slice of the market for cut-up, convenient fruits and vegetables, this innovation might have a big commercial impact.

“ ...the non-browning apples are simply new,improved breeds of the same apples we know and love. They just look better and last longer. ”

According to Carter, the apple industry took notice when cut baby carrots entered the consumer market in 1988, followed by cut salad greens and fruits, such as peaches and melons. By 1995 the cut-fruit and -veggie market had doubled, but apples and pears were left behind, hampered by that pesky browning issue.

Figuring out how to preserve apples without dousing them with chemicals or changing their genetic structure took some time. Traditionally, sliced apples are dipped in an anti-oxidant, such as calcium ascorbate, a process that stops the browning but is also very expensive. These are the apples that show up in McDonalds salads, school lunch trays and on tiny plastic airplane platters.

Although Okanagan Specialty Fruits is a small company with only six employees, they are moving forward with their blocked-PPO apple. The Okanagan non-browning apples are currently in development in both the greenhouse and in field trials. The company has had test fruit since 2002 and plans to have them on the market by 2012. Best of all, the new-age apples probably won't cost much more than apples with bruises and brown spots.
"Apple breeders receive a royalty from growers for new varieties," Carter explains, and the non-browning apples are simply new, improved breeds of the same apples we know and love. They just look better and last longer.

Imagine not having to pick through all the Golden Delicious apples at the store to find the ones without spots. You could even take a bite of your favorite Gala, leave it sitting for hours, and still find the next bite white inside. Even better, imagine a lunchbox that comes home with sliced apples that can be packed again the next day.