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Apples and Pears in action Recipes 5 A DAY Health benefits

Apples for Health

There are many benefits from eating apples. "A apple a day keeps the doctor away" has an increasing number of supportive scientific evidences for its claim. It has been found that eating apples helps to reduce blood cholesterol, improve bowel function, reduce risk of stroke, prostate cancer, Type II diabetes and asthma. This is due to the fibre and phytonutrients present in the apples.

Recent researches have shown that eating apples are linked to reducing cancer risk in several studies. Some examples are :

• Quercetin, a flavonoid abundant in apples has been found to help prevent the growth of prostate cancer cells
• Phytonutrients in the skin of apples inhibited the growth of colon cancer cells by 43%
• Food containing flavonoids like those in apples may reduce risk of lung cancer as much as 50%
• Dietary phenolics such as flavonoids (found in apples) have inhibitory effects on the developments of carcinogenic substances in the bladder, thereby reducing risk of bladder cancer, especially in smokers

Moreover, eating apples could improve lung function and reduce the risk of respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) due to antioxidants present in apples that would counter the oxygen's damaging effects on the body as well as the flavonoids such as catechins (present in apples and tea).

In addition, studies have shown that a diet rich in apples could help to lower the blood cholesterol level. Pectin, a soluble fibre found in apples has been thought to play a significant role in this. In fact, apple juice has been found to inhibit the oxidation of a harm form of cholesterol (LDL, or low-density lipoprotein).

Besides therapeutic benefits, apples are also found to play a role in inhibiting ageing-related problems, preventing wrinkles and promoting hair growth (due to compound named procyanidin B-2).

For those weight-watchers, this is good new as pples are delicious source of dietary fibre and helps to aid digestion and promote weight loss.

Apple Facts

Apples originated in the Middle East more than 4000 years ago; fruit and vines have been grown in the UK since the Roman occupation, with specially cultivated apple varieties spreading across Europe to France, arriving in England at around the time of the Norman conquest in 1066. The demise of rural areas and apple growing, commencing in the 13th century with the Black Death, the War of the Roses and repeated droughts, was reversed by Henry VIII who instructed his fruiterer, Richard Harris, to establish the first large scale orchards at Teynham, Kent, scouring the known world for the best varieties.

The Celtic word for apple, abhall, persists in many place-names, and some towns and cities have particular associations with fruit trees Norwich was described in Tudor times as 'either a city in an orchard or an orchard in a city'.

For the next 300 years, most produce for the luxury market was sold in London. Old English, recorded in 1204, was the main dessert apple in England well into the 18th century, being grown alongside its culinary counterpart Costard, the salesman for the crop being known as a costermonger. The Victorian explorers found new varieties from all over the world and brought them to Brogdale, in Kent, so developing its orchards and gardens.

Brogdale houses the National Fruit Collection - more than 4000 varieties - with over 30 acres of orchards, and the largest collection of apple varieties in the world (more than 2100 dessert, culinary and cider). One of the earliest-flowering dessert apples at Brogdale is Vista, which is in bloom from about May 2nd; Idared, Discovery, Jonagold and Cox's Orange Pippin follow about a week later. The latest flowering varieties include Worcester Pearmain and Gala. The maturation dates for fruit span more than 100 days. Cox's Orange Pippin accounts for over 50% of the UK acreage of dessert apples. It has an unknown parentage but is thought to be an 18th century seedling, which originated in Colnbrook, Berkshire, related to Ribston Pippin, raised from seed by the brewer Richard Cox, at Knaresborough Hall in Yorkshire.

The UK apple market is now worth over £320M but only 30-35% of the eating apples sold in the UK are home-grown. Supermarkets sell 70% of all apples in the UK. Many supermarkets sell about eight varieties double the range they carried five years ago. The UK is the only country that grows apples especially for cooking. More than 140,000 tonnes (£78M) of Bramley apples are sold annually, with the fresh market (65%) still dominating supplies to the consumer. Only 78% of shoppers recognise the Bramley as being British, whilst nearly 60% think the Granny Smith (which is not grown in the UK) is.

Favourite Northern Hemisphere apples eaten in the UK, peeled or un-peeled, are Royal Gala, Jonagold, Braeburn, Fiesta and Cox's Orange Pippin but many consumers also like more acidic Granny Smith. Research at IFR shows there is a market-gap for a UK-bred apple that would be more acidic than anything grown currently in the UK. The main need for growers is for fruit with extended storage seasons, though there is an interest in the possibility of apples as 'functional foods' - those containing elevated levels of health-protecting chemicals.

Longest storage of apples is provided by controlled atmosphere storage - a technique pioneered by IFR scientists fruit is sealed in gas-proof refrigerated chambers maintained at the desired temperature with in-store concentrations of gases (oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen) kept at specified levels.

Storage reduces fruit respiration, delays ripening and minimizes losses due to various disorders and shrivelling. Early-ripening apples such as Discovery store less well than later-maturing varieties such as Granny Smith. Bramley apples can be kept fresh virtually all-the-year-round using this technique. Apples are ideally marketed by a refrigerated chain. Modified Atmosphere Packaging another technique developed by IFR scientists uses permeable plastic films chosen to provide ideal gas concentrations around the fruits.

Fruit-breeders are still working to improve flavour, resistance to storage disorders and 'long storage' characteristics in apples. To conform to EC grading criteria, apple growers have to produce fruit matching required standards of size, colour, shape, freedom from skin blemishes; there are no criteria for 'smell' and 'flavour'.

The amount of sugars and malic acid in each variety determines the balance of sweetness and tartness in the fruit. The more malic acid and the fewer sugars present, the stronger the flavour and the greater the likelihood of the flavour being retained when the apple is cooked. Bramley apples have a low sugar : acid ratio a characteristic tangy flavour which is strong enough to be retained in the cooking process.

Although acidity plays a part in the prevention of browning of the cut fruit, it is mainly the Vitamin C in the lemon juice that many people squeeze over the fruit that acts as an antioxidant, and thus slows the enzymic process that causes the discolouration. The primary products of this enzymic oxidation of phenolic compounds are o-quinones, and the resulting colour of the cut fruit surface will depend on the type of phenol oxidised. Use of a short heat treatment (70-90°C) to inactivate the enzymes, or ultrafiltration to remove the o-quinone products, are two ways in which the production of discoloured products can be minimised.

Research at IFR shows how the texture of apples depends on the way the tissue ruptures when the flesh is broken on eating. This in turn is dependant on the chemistry of the cell walls of the fruit. The cell wall comprises the 'dietary fibre' component. In crunchy tissues rupture occurs across the cell wall resulting in cell breakage; in soft, (mealy) tissues rupture occurs across the middle lamella resulting in cell separation.

One of the ways you can check quality in a batch of apples is to carry out instrumental tests on them. The Instron Universal Testing Machine applies forces to any food product, or a sample cut from it, and provides information about its hardness and strength as indicators of texture. At IFR we use the Instron for measuring texture of many food products dairy, meat, biscuits, fruit etc and the method is also in routine use in the UK by producers, wholesalers and retailers. Eating varieties contain up to 20% more dry matter than the Bramley. The Bramley gives a moist, airy 'melt-in-the-mouth' texture when cooked, whereas cooked eating apples may have a chewy, dissatisfying texture.

Apple aroma results from subtle blends of the 250 volatile esters, alcohols, aldehydes and essential oils present. Fruit colour comes from traces of chemicals such as chlorophyll, carotenoids and anthocyanins.

About 10% of an apple is made up of carbohydrate. Apples contain dietary fibre in their skins and core. About 4% of an apple is made up of vitamins and minerals. The rest of the apple, more than 80%, is made up of water. A medium-sized eating apple contains about 40 calories one kilo of fresh apples provides approximately 2100kJ (500 kcal) of energy. Excluding the peel and core of apples from the diet almost halves the amounts of Vitamin C and dietary fibre available in the whole fruit, but makes very little difference to the sugar content.

Washing the skin to remove any contaminants is advisable. Apple pips taste a little bitter, like almonds, and contain traces of cyanide but not enough to be harmful!

Fruit and vegetables are an important part of a balanced diet. Health advisory organisations recommend we eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day to help reduce cancer risks and improve heart health. Apples are a good 'snack' food and are easy to eat fresh. From food intake questionnaires returned to the Institute of Food Research we know that women in Norfolk between the ages of 24-34 eat most apples about 1 a day. Young adult men eat very few apples. Figures for older adults vary between 4-6 a week, with little difference between men and women.

But, there are many other forms in which we can eat apples or drink their juice. Premium juice with the distinct flavour of English apples is altered as little as possible after the apples have been pressed. The juice is flash-pasteurised to give it a shelf-life of up to two years and prevent it fermenting and turning into cider. Apple juice is a mixture of sugars (primarily fructose, glucose and sucrose), oligosaccharides and polysaccharides (eg starch) together with malic, quinic and citromalic acids, tannins (ie polyphenols), amides and other nitrogenous compounds, soluble pectin, vitamin C, minerals and the diverse range of esters (eg ethyl-methyl-butyrate and iso-butyl acetate) which give the juice a typical apple-like aroma. The relative proportions will be dependant on the apple cultivar, the cultural conditions under which it was grown, the state of maturity of fruit at the time of pressing, the extent of physical and biological damage (eg mould rots), and, to a lesser extent, the efficiency with which the juice was pressed from the fruit. Apple juice is versatile in cooking; it can form the basis of a syrup, or be added to a sauce. It can be used instead of apple purée for mousses, ices and jellies.

Some varieties of apple, often with higher acid and tannin contents than dessert apples, are grown specially for hard cider production. Traditional varieties include Dabinett or Michelin. The fermentation of apple juice to produce an alcoholic beverage dates back at least 2000 years and is recorded as a common drink at the time of the Roman invasion of England in 55 BC. In the 4th century, St Jerome used the term sicera to describe drinks made from apples; this may be the word from which 'cider' is derived.

Significant commercial production began in the UK in the late 19th century. Production was estimated at 55 million gallons in 1900; UK sales in the 12 months to December 1994 were 98 million gallons (445 000 hectolitres). Cider can now be obtained on draft (both keg and cask-conditioned) or prepackaged in glass or polyethylenetetraphlate bottles and in cans. Products range in alcoholic strength from less than 0.5% to 8.4% ABV, and in sweetness from very dry to sweet; and from 'white' (ie decolourised) to 'black' (a blend of cider from fermented, malted barley). Cider may be made from a single apple cultivar, eg Kingston Black, and those made from apples of a single crop, may be sold as a defined year vintage.

Pears for Health

Pears are a good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Copper and Potassium.

Pears contain a high level of fibre when the peel is intact. This does a lot more than ensuring regularity, it has also proven to reduce cholesterol levels. Fibre on the colon binds to bile salts and carries them out of the body. Since bile salts are made from cholesterol, the body must break down cholesterol to produce more bile, a substance needed for digestion. The end result is a lowering of cholesterol.

Fibre also binds to cancer-causing chemicals in the colon and is recommended for good colonic health.

Some healthcare practitioners recommend pears as a hypoallergenic fruit that is less likely to produce an adverse response than other fruit. This makes pears particularly popular as an introduction to fruit for young babies.

Pear Facts

Pear cultivation is traced back over 3000 years in Western Asia, and there has been some evidence of it's discovery as far as the Stone Age.

Pears are member of the rose family, and are closely related to Apples and Quinces.

Although mainly eaten out of the hand , pears are a versatile fruit that can be baked, juiced, poached, made into liquers, and are the used in the production Perry.

Perry is very similar to cider, with almost identical production methods.

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