The New Complete Book of Food

 The New Complete Book of Food

Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food

Antiflatulence diet (raw apples)

Low-fiber diet

Buying This Food

Look for: Apples that are firm and brightly colored: shiny red Macintosh, Rome, and red

Delicious; clear green Granny Smith; golden yellow Delicious.

Avoid: Bruised apples. When an apple is damaged the injured cells release polyphenoloxi-

dase, an enzyme that hastens the oxidation of phenols in the apple, producing brownish

pigments that darken the fruit. It’s easy to check loose apples; if you buy them packed in a

plastic bag, turn the bag upside down and examine the fruit.

Storing This Food

Store apples in the refrigerator. Cool storage keeps them from losing the natural moisture

that makes them crisp. It also keeps them from turning brown inside, near the core, a phe-

nomenon that occurs when apples are stored at warm temperatures. Apples can be stored in

a cool, dark cabinet with plenty of circulating air.

Check the apples from time to time. They store well, but the longer the storage, the

greater the natural loss of moisture and the more likely the chance that even the crispest

apple will begin to taste mealy.

Preparing This Food

Don’t peel or slice an apple until you are ready to use it. When you cut into the apple, you

tear its cells, releasing polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that darkens the fruit. Acid inactivates

polyphenoloxidase, so you can slow the browning (but not stop it completely) by dipping

raw sliced and/or peeled apples into a solution of lemon juice and water or vinegar and water

or by mixing them with citrus fruits in a fruit salad. Polyphenoloxidase also works more

slowly in the cold, but storing peeled apples in the refrigerator is much less effective than

immersing them in an acid bath.

What Happens When You Cook This Food

When you cook an unpeeled apple, insoluble cellulose and lignin will hold the peel intact

through all normal cooking. The flesh of the apple, though, will fall apart as the pectin in its

cell walls dissolves and the water inside its cells swells, rupturing the cell walls and turning

the apples into applesauce. Commercial bakers keep the apples in their apple pies firm by

treating them with calcium; home bakers have to rely on careful timing. To prevent baked