This article Chinese about 2600 words and takes about 5 minutes to read
Too long to look at
丨 Apples are generally nutritious and convenient to eat
Peeling may result in the loss of 1/3 of the antioxidants
The difference between powder and crispness is mainly the difference in pectin form
丨Apple bagging cultivation can reduce pesticide residues
丨"Sugar heart" is too much sugar to overflow
丨 Apple vitamin C is not much, cooking loss is not a pity, but also better digestion
丨 At night, it will not turn into arsenic
Christmas Eve is here~
Some very "creative" merchants combined Western stories with Chinese harmonic stems to create a "custom" of eating apples on Christmas Eve, which is still circulating today. Although this habit is a bit unusual, apples are a good fruit, so let's talk about it today.
Nutrition in general
But it's convenient to eat
If you simply look at the nutrient content of apples, it is actually relatively bland. It has all the nutrients it should have (potassium, magnesium, vitamin C, dietary fiber, etc.), but they are not prominent and have no highlights.
For example, most of the vitamin C content is only about 5mg/100g, which is properly calculated in fruits. (Top raw winter jujube 243mg/100g)
However, apples are convenient to eat, portable and durable, easy to buy all year round, the price is relatively cheap, compared to some rare and delicate fruits, it is easier to meet daily fruit intake.
Strong feeling of fullness
The "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents" recommends eating 200 to 350g of fruit per day, basically a medium-sized apple can be satisfied, which is simply not too convenient.
And the apple is very full, eating one will be very full or even braced, and there is no worry about eating too much.
There is plenty of evidence of health
Apples are rich in pectin and phenolic antioxidants, and the long-term accumulation of health evidence is also abundant. [5]
Snake fruit
Is it an apple?
The exquisitely packaged "Peace Fruit" is generally a tall, thin waist, slim body, bright red surface fruit, called "snake fruit", which is very different from the size of red Fuji, is it an apple?
be.
What is now called "snake fruit" came from the United States, and the original name of the variety was "Red Delicious" (we officially translate it as Red Marshal here). When exported to Hong Kong, it was half-transliterated as "Red Ground Li Snake Fruit" and then simplified to "Snake Fruit".
Red delicious Apple, image from Wikimedia Commons
In fact, the "Red Marshal" apple has long been introduced to China, and the domestic "Flower Cow" apple, "Red Banana" apple, and "Red Star" apple are all "relatives" cultivated from the "Red Marshal".
The taste of childhood
I can't find it anymore
In addition, there are quite a few varieties of apples, and if you count them by kinship, the four largest "factions" are Fuji, Marshal, Golden Crown, and Gala (I like to eat this the most).
Golden Delicious Apple, image from Wikimedia Commons, by Ivar Leidus
"Royal Gala" Apple, image by Wikimedia Commons, by Ivar Leidus
I don't know if you ever ate a small, half-red, half-green, sweet and sour Guoguang apple when you were a child. Although it does not look so advanced, it has a rich taste, not just sweet, but also very sour. But later, as everyone's pursuit of taste changed, large and sweet apples dominated the mainstream, and many varieties of childhood memories faded and are now difficult to buy.
Powder good?
Crispy good?
Crisp apples and powdered apples are essentially different in pectin form, and there is no essential difference in the nutritional value of the two.
(As apples mature, the content of insoluble pectin and cellulose in pulp cells decreases, the content of soluble pectin increases, and the adhesion between cells decreases.) For crisp apple varieties, the process is slower, while for powdered apple varieties, the process is faster)
There is no significant difference in appearance between the two kinds of apples, so the selection of powder and crisp can only look at the varieties, such as red bananas, yellow bananas, red stars and so on are all pink glutinous, while various Fuji are crisp.
The green apples that have been popular in the past two years represent the "Wang Lin" apples, which are also brittle.
Orin apples cultivated in Japan, pictured from ringodaigaku.com
"Sugar Heart Apple"
How did the "sugar heart" come about?
The appearance of "sugar heart" in apples was not a popular thing in the early days, it was called "sugar heart disease" and needed to be avoided, but now everyone has accepted it and has become a feature.
(This "disease" is not harmful to people, but only that such traits are not normal for Apple.)
The study found that the main factor in the formation of "sugar hearts" in apples grown in the Aksu region is the local special temperature, especially when the minimum temperature of the day reaches 0 °C, and the temperature difference between day and night is greater than 15 °C. [4]
At this temperature, during the day, carbohydrates are continuously transported to the inside of the fruit through vascular bundles, and at night, they cannot be transformed and metabolized in time, accumulating in the cell gaps, making the cell wall transparent, and the "sugar heart" appears, and most of them are around the vascular bundle.
Simply put, sugar has to "overflow" before sugar hearts appear, so the sugar content of "sugar heart" apples is obviously higher, and the study found that the soluble sugar content of Aksu sugar heart apples reached more than 11.5% before the accumulation of "sugar hearts". [4]
"Honeycrisp" apple, a very popular fresh food in the United States, resistant to storage apples, and also grown in small quantities in China, image from Wikimedia Commons, by Evan-Amos
apple
Is it better to cook it?
Apples will definitely lose vitamin C when cooked, but apples have very little vitamin C, and the loss will be lost, at least potassium, magnesium and other minerals and dietary fiber can still be eaten.
Cooked apple cellulose softens, is very chewy, has little gastrointestinal stimulation, is not difficult to eat, and friends with weak stomach or bad teeth can also eat like this if they like to eat it.
In addition, if cooked, the risk caused by pesticide residues and harmful microorganisms is much smaller.
New Zealand Rockit Apple, very small, very expensive, picture from Lenswood Apples
Peel and eat
How big is the loss?
The antioxidants in the peel of an apple are denser than the pulp. For example, anthocyanins and carotenoids, which give the peel a red and yellow color, are antioxidants themselves.
Someone measured 35 varieties of apples and found that the antioxidants in the peel were several times denser than in the pulp. For example, the total phenol content of "Red Fuji" apple per gram of peel is about 3 times that of per gram of pulp, the total proanthocyanidin content is about 7 times that of pulp, and the antioxidant activity is about 4 times that of pulp. [1-2]
Considering that the peel of the apple makes up about 10% of the total fruit weight, peeling off the peel may result in a loss of 1/4-1/3 of the antioxidants.
If you want to get the full health benefits of apples, it's better to eat them with a skin. (Gospel of the Lazy)
The reason someone peels and eats it may be because of concerns about pesticide residues and wax. Pesticide residues can actually be avoided by cleaning well, and natural fruit wax and regular artificial fruit wax are no problem, if you really mind buy apples that are not waxed.
Bagging cultivation
Fewer pesticide residues
Bagging apples is now a common practice, initially to prevent pest infestations, but it was later found that bagging also improves the appearance of the fruit.
The fruit bag avoids the irritation and damage to the peel by factors such as wind and rain and dust, so that the fruit is smoother, the peel is not easy to break, and the fruit spots and rust spots become fewer and smaller. Bagging also makes red apples redder by influencing the decomposition of leaf green and the synthesis of anthocyanins. [3]
Now everyone is looking for bright and smooth and beautiful fruits, and the fruits cultivated in bagging have a higher commodity value.
Moreover, after bagging, the direct contact between the liquid and the surface of the peel is isolated, and the amount of pesticide use and the number of sprays are reduced, so in fact, bagging can effectively reduce the pesticide residue of apples. [3]
Eat apples in the evening
Better than eating arsenic?
This is an old rumor, it is said that because at night our digestive system is on holiday, and after eating apples, they will pile up in the stomach to ferment and produce toxins... This is ridiculous.
Whenever you eat something, your digestive system will function. It is completely possible to decide when to eat fruit according to your own schedule and hunger, and there are not so many rules.
For example, breakfast plus some fruit or eat between meals are very good, before the meal pad can also be a bite, unless it is already very much after the meal, then do not eat.
What is your favorite apple?
Resources:
LI Xin. Analysis of polyphenol components of different varieties of apple and its related biological activities[D].Zhejiang University, 2015.
Wang Jiao,Gao Ying,Zhao Yanmin,Liu Dailin. Determination of total polyphenols in the peel and pulp of apples of different varieties[J].Food Research and Development,2013,34(20):87-89.
Yan Jiuying. Effect of bagging on fruit coloring of apple varieties of different color types[D].Northwest A&F University, 2017.
Zhou Xiaowei. Study on the mechanism of formation of "sugar heart" of Fuji apple in Aksu area[D].Tarim University, 2019.
[5] Hyson, D.A. A Comprehensive Review of Apples and Apple Components and Their Relationship to Human Health. Adv. Nutr. 2011, 2, 408–420.