Apples come in all shades of reds,
greens, and yellowsMore Than Delicious Orchard
Here are a few articles on the benefits of apples and pears...
Having a baby? Eat apples
From the Sept. 14-16 edition of USA Today
Do you want your child to be free of asthma? If so, you should eat lots of apples while you are pregnant, a new Scottish study suggest.
Researchers at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland found that 5 year old children whose mothers had eaten the most apples during pregnancy were least likely to experience wheezing episodes or doctor confirmed asthma. Eating fish at least one time a week while you are pregnant also can help your young offspring avoid getting eczema.
An apple peel a day may keep cancer away
From the August 2007 edition of The Grower, pg. 8
Cornell University researchers have identified a dozen compounds in apple peels that either inhibit or kill cancer cells in laboratory cultures.
Three of the compounds had not been described in literature before.
“We found that several compounds have potent anti-proliferative activities against human liver, colon, and breast cancer cells and may be partially responsible for the anti-cancer activities of whole apples,” says Rui Hai Liu, an associate professor of food science in Ithaca, NY.
In previous Cornell studies, apples had been found not only to fight cancer cells in the laboratory, but also to reduce the number and size of mammary tumors in rats. The Cornell researchers now think that the triterpenoids, as the compounds are called, may be doing much of the anti-cancer work.
Apple Trivia
Adapted from Pome News (Summer 2004) p.54
Apples: we eat them out of hand or cooked in pies, sauces, and other delectables. Apples make for nutritious eating on their own, but they also blend beautifully with so many other foods, from savory to sweet, adding a unique flavor to any meal. But did you know…
Apples come in all shades of reds,
greens, and yellows
Two pounds of apples make one 9”
pie
Apples are the most varied food on
earth. 7,500 varieties of apples are grown throughout the world!
60% of our apples are eaten out of
hand; the remainder are processed.
The science of apple growing is
called pomology.
The largest apple ever picked
weighed three pounds.
It takes energy from 50 leaves to
produce one apple.
China is the largest producer of
apples. The US, Turkey, Poland, and Italy round out the top five.
Apples ripen six to ten times
faster at room temperature than if they were refrigerated.
Just one apple provides as much
dietary fiber as a serving of bran cereal. That’s about 1/5th the
recommended daily intake of fiber.
Apple juice was one of the earliest
prescribed antidepressants.
Johnny Appleseed was a real person.
His name was John Chapman. He was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, September
26, 1774.
Apples may help you lose weight. A
Brazilian study showed that 300 overweight women who ate three apples per day
lost more weight than a similar group that didn’t add fruit to their diet.
Researchers believe that adding fruit to the diet of the overweight women
changed their metabolic profiles.
Apples bruise more easily than eggs
break.
Everyday apples pack antioxidant punch
Red Delicious, Northern Spy most potent, study finds...
An apple a day actually may keep the doctor away.
CONCORD, N.H. - America’s most common apple also may be its most potent. Just
don’t skimp on the skin.
A Canadian government study that measured the levels of antioxidants in eight
varieties of apples found that Red Delicious contain the highest concentrations
of the health enhancing chemicals.
And to get the most bang for your bite, be sure to eat the peel.
The skin of Red Delicious apples — the most common variety grown in the United
States — contains over six times more antioxidant activity than the flesh,
according to researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
But don’t swear off other varieties just yet.
Quantity factor unknown
Though antioxidants are believed to help ward off certain diseases, more
research is needed to determine whether quantity alone counts. The study did not
consider whether antioxidants in some apples may be better absorbed than others.
Until that is known, food scientist Rong Tsao says his study — which also
identified the chemicals responsible for antioxidant activity in apples —
probably is most useful to horticulturists breeding new, antioxidant-rich
varieties.
The information also could lead to the development of techniques for harvesting
antioxidants from the waste products of the apple processing industry, the bulk
of which is peel, Tsao said during a recent telephone interview.
The study, to be published in the June 29 issue of Journal of Agricultural and
Food Chemistry, compared apple varieties popular in Canada, some of which are
available only regionally in the United States.
Red Delicious, which account for 27 percent of U.S. apple production, has more
than six times the antioxidants as the bottom-ranked Empire variety. Northern
Spy was No. 2, followed by Cortland, Ida Red, Golden Delicious, McIntosh and
Mutsu.
And in every variety tested, the skins of the apples contained substantially
higher levels of antioxidants than the flesh.
Year-round source
But if you simply can’t bear to eat the peel, the sweet-tart Northern Spy ranks
No. 1 for antioxidants in flesh alone. Cortland was second, followed by Red
Delicious.
Tsao attributed the variations to differences in growing seasons, geography and
genetic predispositions.
Though apples have significantly lower concentrations of antioxidants than other
fruits, especially many berries, researchers say year-round availability and
greater popularity might make them a better source for many people.
In the United States, apples are second only to bananas among popular fruits.
The average adult ate about 16 pounds of fresh apples in 2003, according to the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Jeffrey Blumberg, a professor of nutrition and antioxidant expert at the
Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts, praised the research, saying analyzing
and ranking foods in this manner is key to understanding disease.
“This is the tool that epidemiologists need to look at diet-health
relationships,” he said. “One can ask a question such as, ’How many apples do
you need to eat a day to prevent heart disease or keep the doctor away?”’
Pear growers should be pleased with the Food
and Drug Administration’s recent announcement of the added fiber value of
pears. Already listed as the top fiber fruit in FDA’s Dietary Guidelines with
4 grams per serving, a medium-sized pear is now measured at 6 grams of fiber,
providing the average adult with 24% of the recommended daily fiber intake.
This designation allows growers to market pears as an “excellent” source of
fiber, according to Kevin Moffitt of the Pear Bureau Northwest, which worked
with FDA to amend the nutrition label. Eating adequate fiber encourages a
healthy digestive function and reduces cholesterol levels and the risk of
coronary heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
Brian Sparks, Aug 09, 13:33
Helpful Links