TEAGASC SCIENTISTS, who established decades ago that eating two apples a day keeps you healthy, have now advised consumers to choose Granny Smith because of their high level of antioxidants.
The scientists’ most recent research at Ashtown Food Research Centre has identified the apples with the best antioxidants and concluded that they work best when eaten with their skins on.
The 12-month investigation saw apples purchased from a major Irish supermarket. The Golden Delicious, Braeburn and Granny Smith varieties were chosen and were tested for physicochemical and sensory properties using standard procedures, according to a report in the T-Research autumn magazine. It said the antioxidant status and phenolic content of the fruit was also measured on each occasion in both skin-on and skin-off samples.
Triplicate samples of each variety were obtained and 60 apples of each variety were tested each month. They found an appreciable degree of variation between varieties for things such as sugar content, the Golden Delicious scoring highest and Granny Smiths the lowest for sugar.
Acidity was highest in the Granny Smith variety and the lowest acidity levels were found in the Golden Delicious variety.
Some of the panellists complained the slices of Granny Smith, which were the firmest, were too firm and the other two varieties were not as firm.
The study found higher values for skin-on apple wedges compared with skin-off, indicating the benefits of eating apples with the skin attached. The study, which was part of the ongoing EU-funded ISAFRUIT project, also found the property of the apples varied from month to month due to different countries of origin, levels of maturity and the length of time in storage.
The scientists concluded from a sensory acceptability point of view, Golden Delicious was the preferred apple, followed by Braeburn and Granny Smith. However, Granny Smith apples had the highest level of antioxidants, especially total phenol content, indicating they may have better health-promoting properties than the other two.
The report quoted research from the University of Copenhagen, which was also published this year, saying that it takes three to four weeks to lower cholesterol levels by 10 per cent if fruit consumption is increased.