A GMO Apple that does not turn brown

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Replies

  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,301 Member
    You are welcome. I'll not be buying sliced apple any time soon. I'll slice it myself, if needed and dunk it in lemon juice to counteract the browning. Its what I have always done.
  • Rosemary7391
    Rosemary7391 Posts: 232 Member
    So, you can make a GMO apple not turn brown. Okay. You can dunk it in lemon juice or seal it in a particular way to stop that happening too. The article doesn't really say what the advantage of the GMO method is, or did I miss it?
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/these-genetically-modified-apples-that-dont-turn-brown-will-soon-be-available?utm_content=buffere8311&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

    It will be marketed pre-sliced. One gene turned off.

    I’ll try it.

    So cool. Convenient. :mrgreen:

  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    Rosemary7391 wrote: »
    The article doesn't really say what the advantage of the GMO method is, or did I miss it?

    It didn't really say, no. And I imagine it will be touted, during marketing to the public, as something that is helpful for convenience and all that. But in reality, it's pretty much for industry. Heck, it would need to be, for the company to make back the money it took to make something like this.

    Restaurants, companies selling fruit salads and other pre-sliced apples in products, all have to use salt or citric acid or lemon to keep the product from browning. While that's a small cost on an individual level, on a larger scale the cost of that tends to add up, so I imagine many of these companies will be buying up these apples to use to eliminate the extra costs.

    I mean, I still remember a candy company a decade or more back that literally saved millions over a few years on the edible ink that printed a few letters on their candies, simply by changing the font.
    That ink was MUCH cheaper than what they use on apples, you know?
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    So, I could drive to the Orchards in a half hour, but if I want to try one I will need to go to the Mid-Western USA.

    Figures.

    I'd have no issue trying ti if I could.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    Envy apples have very little color change after they're cut. Hard to find (at least around here) though.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    The big advantage is to distribution. Fruit that has a long shelf life improves profit margins and reduces spoilage.

    I sliced a giant Delicious apple and brushed it with lemon juice, taking it for lunch. It took two days to finish. It still turned brown.

    How does one gene tweak make such an apple unappealing?
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,281 Member
    The supermarket here already sells pre sliced apples, not a new thing so I take it they are not new fancy GMO apples

    In vacuum sealed bags so I presume with no oxygen in the bag, the apple slices don't brown??

    I don't buy them because much dearer than a whole apple which I can easily slice myself.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,092 Member
    edited November 2017
    So it doesn't turn brown. What does it taste like? Most grocery store apples taste pretty ... well, tasteless to me, because they seem to only sell varieties that have been bred for traveling well and looking pretty, because the majority of consumers buy with their eyes.

    I mostly buy current-crop apples in heritage varieties from local farm stands in the fall. I get enough that they'll last me well into winter when stored in the refrigerator (I just take two or three out at a time, as they taste better to me when allowed to come back up to room temperature).

    When I walk into the apple area of the farm stands, I can usually smell the apples immediately (unless it's a very cold day). It may just be that the apples in the grocery store are still cold from storage, but even if I pick one up that doesn't feel cold and take a good sniff, I can't smell apples. I know from long experience that if it doesn't smell like an apple, it's unlikely to taste much like an apple. If you're really lucky, it might be a little crisp or a little juicy or a little sweet or a little tart, but it won't actually have much apple flavor.

    As for the GMO issue, I don't see a lot to be concerned about in terms of safety in turning off a gene that presumably affects the presence of whatever substance is oxidizing when the apple turns brown.


    ETA: It sounds from the article as though the marketing team plans to sell these apples pre-sliced only. Even if I were to think I might want an apple that doesn't brown to use in a salad or other dish that might sit for a little bit before being served, I'd really prefer to buy a whole apple and slice or chop it myself. Buying them sliced just means additional opportunities for pathogens to get on the apple, and how many of us are going to wash pre-sliced apples before eating them, and how effective would it be if we did. Plus, even if there isn't the visual evidence of browning, I can't believe a pre-sliced apple is going to taste as fresh as one that isn't pre-sliced. And don't some vitamins degrade more quickly when exposed to light and/or air, rather than being protected from exposure by the apple skin?
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I had a tasteless pomegranate the other day. My assumption was that it was picked green and spent too much time in storage.

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I imagine the developers will get their investment back by marketing the pre cut first before non-browning apples become the norm.

    Will non browning apples become the norm?
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Kiwi fruit started out as kiwi berries (Chinese Gooseberry)
    Kiwi are pretty well accepted now even though they are a human intervention.
  • nickssweetheart
    nickssweetheart Posts: 874 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    I had a tasteless pomegranate the other day. My assumption was that it was picked green and spent too much time in storage.

    That would break my heart. I love pomegranates with a passion.
  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I don't mind GMO, but I dislike how fruit/veg is being marketed precut, especially something so simple to cut as apple (mango I get, as I suck at cutting mango, or I suppose something where you want less than a whole large fruit, like watermelon or even pineapple). IMO, it is going to taste less good much faster after being cut no matter what, and it's just an example of how extreme the demand for convenience is. (I feel the same about the demand for many fruits out of season that don't taste great that way, although I think some taste fine and certainly do buy produce I know must have travelled a ways to be available in my store now, or January.)

    In this case, I can't imagine buying it personally, or any precut apples.

    But whatever, I just hope the people buying precut are not the same people claiming produce is crazy expensive.

    Precut is good when you want something healthier, but are running late, or not home. Whole apples hurt my teeth, are hard to eat in the car, and finding skmeplace yo get rid of the core is sometimes problematical. Not saying whole is bad, by any means, but sometimes precut is preferable when whole apples area impractical and you don't have time/option of slicing right now.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    McDonald’s found out we don’t like bones in our chicken and if they are feeding us precut apples sans core and dusted with cinnamon we don’t like bits and pieces in our fruit either.

    I am much more likely to eat my fruit at lunch if I pre cut it. I never have trouble finishing off my veggies.

    I’m not sure what this says about us as a people.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,281 Member
    i can see that pre cut apples are good for some situations - people like me who dont eat whole apples but only like slices of them - I slice them myself but perhaps if I was travelling it might be convenient.

    I think the biggest market for the ones in my supermarket are for children in lunchboxes - where there isnt a parent to cut them up (eg at school) and likewise the ones in Mcdonalds.

    I don't get why there is a new GMO variety though - you can get pre sliced apples in vaccuum sealed bags now.

    PS re comment about any pre sliced fruit/veg - I love that I can buy a pre cut wedge of melon, pumpkin etc - when one lives in a household of only 1 or 2 people and a whole melon/pumpkin would be far too much and half go to waste.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    The improvement must be shelf life. Vacuum sealing would also work but this will be much cheaper. After the R&D is paid off.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,092 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    Kiwi fruit started out as kiwi berries (Chinese Gooseberry)
    Kiwi are pretty well accepted now even though they are a human intervention.

    Pretty much all of the food we eat other than wild-caught seafood and game is the result of human intervention. Most people wouldn't like nature's original ideas for apples and corn.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,092 Member
    [quote="paperpudding;c-40871886"]i can see that pre cut apples are good for some situations - people like me who dont eat whole apples but only like slices of them - I slice them myself but perhaps if I was travelling it might be convenient.

    I think the biggest market for the ones in my supermarket are for children in lunchboxes - where there isnt a parent to cut them up (eg at school) and likewise the ones in Mcdonalds.

    I don't get why there is a new GMO variety though - you can get pre sliced apples in vaccuum sealed bags now.

    PS re comment about any pre sliced fruit/veg - I love that I can buy a pre cut wedge of melon, pumpkin etc - when one lives in a household of only 1 or 2 people and a whole melon/pumpkin would be far too much and half go to waste.[/quote]


    This is another thing I like about getting relatively local apples in mainly heritage varieties at farm stands -- I can pick out the smaller ones that are more the size I want to eat -- and that, to me, often taste better. In the grocery store, they're generally all the same size: too large.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    This is another thing I like about getting relatively local apples in mainly heritage varieties at farm stands -- I can pick out the smaller ones that are more the size I want to eat -- and that, to me, often taste better. In the grocery store, they're generally all the same size: too large.

    We have some good ones in the grocery store -- I am enjoying some honeycrisps from the grocery store and they are normal sized, but I agree to preferring the local ones from the green market and the variety of different kinds.
  • Rosemary7391
    Rosemary7391 Posts: 232 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    [quote="paperpudding;c-40871886"]i can see that pre cut apples are good for some situations - people like me who dont eat whole apples but only like slices of them - I slice them myself but perhaps if I was travelling it might be convenient.

    I think the biggest market for the ones in my supermarket are for children in lunchboxes - where there isnt a parent to cut them up (eg at school) and likewise the ones in Mcdonalds.

    I don't get why there is a new GMO variety though - you can get pre sliced apples in vaccuum sealed bags now.

    PS re comment about any pre sliced fruit/veg - I love that I can buy a pre cut wedge of melon, pumpkin etc - when one lives in a household of only 1 or 2 people and a whole melon/pumpkin would be far too much and half go to waste.


    This is another thing I like about getting relatively local apples in mainly heritage varieties at farm stands -- I can pick out the smaller ones that are more the size I want to eat -- and that, to me, often taste better. In the grocery store, they're generally all the same size: too large.[/quote]

    Are you in the US? I found that when I was travelling there, even the smallest were huge compared to UK apples.


    Even non browning apples will need some packaging (like pre cut carrot) so I can't see that the saving will be all that much...
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Why would a non browning apple need any packaging? I predict within the decade all the apples in the US will be non-browning. (I think the EU will hold out non-GMO and food options will diverge).
  • Rosemary7391
    Rosemary7391 Posts: 232 Member
    To stop dust and muck from people picking it up getting on it? And to stop it drying out? Precut I'm talking about. Things that don't go brown, like carrot for instance, are still packaged when pre cut.

    I really don't think it's that big a deal... why bother with the GMO apple for cases where it's non browning doesn't matter anyway? And that's the majority of use...
  • Sp1tfire
    Sp1tfire Posts: 1,120 Member
    I will only try it if they promise it'll help me grow a third arm.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,092 Member
    Rosemary7391 wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    [quote="paperpudding;c-40871886"]i can see that pre cut apples are good for some situations - people like me who dont eat whole apples but only like slices of them - I slice them myself but perhaps if I was travelling it might be convenient.

    I think the biggest market for the ones in my supermarket are for children in lunchboxes - where there isnt a parent to cut them up (eg at school) and likewise the ones in Mcdonalds.

    I don't get why there is a new GMO variety though - you can get pre sliced apples in vaccuum sealed bags now.

    PS re comment about any pre sliced fruit/veg - I love that I can buy a pre cut wedge of melon, pumpkin etc - when one lives in a household of only 1 or 2 people and a whole melon/pumpkin would be far too much and half go to waste.


    This is another thing I like about getting relatively local apples in mainly heritage varieties at farm stands -- I can pick out the smaller ones that are more the size I want to eat -- and that, to me, often taste better. In the grocery store, they're generally all the same size: too large.

    Are you in the US? I found that when I was travelling there, even the smallest were huge compared to UK apples.


    Even non browning apples will need some packaging (like pre cut carrot) so I can't see that the saving will be all that much...[/quote]

    Yes, I'm in the U.S.
    The tendency to sell only the largest specimens in the produce section has gotten so bad that I now see a number of grocery stores selling special "kid-sized" apples and sometimes other fruit.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,092 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    Why would a non browning apple need any packaging? I predict within the decade all the apples in the US will be non-browning. (I think the EU will hold out non-GMO and food options will diverge).

    Surely if they're selling them sliced they will be in packaging?? I sure as heck wouldn't buy sliced apples from a bin where the sliced surfaces are exposed to bacteria in the air, on the legs of what ever insect lands on them, on the hands of other shoppers ... :s:s
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,092 Member
    Rosemary7391 wrote: »
    To stop dust and muck from people picking it up getting on it? And to stop it drying out? Precut I'm talking about. Things that don't go brown, like carrot for instance, are still packaged when pre cut.

    I really don't think it's that big a deal... why bother with the GMO apple for cases where it's non browning doesn't matter anyway? And that's the majority of use...

    Increasingly in the various grocery stores I shop in, all types of produce, pre-cut or not, are sold packaged. The only nonpackaged carrots I've seen in a grocery store (as opposed to a farm stand or farmer's market) in years -- probably decades -- have still been bound in "bunches" and priced per "bunch" (quotes because carrots don't grow in bunches), with tops attached, and priced at a large premium over a 1 lb or 2 lb bag of ordinary, uncut, but topless carrots (hubba-hubba :smile: ).

    I like to pick out my own green beans and other bean pods, so I can get ones that are neither nothing but pod nor so mature the pods will be tough. But I don't often see them sold loose anymore in grocery stores, just in bags.

    I suspect it's a combination of providing a convenience factor some customers appreciate and cutting costs (cheaper to ship pre-package from a field-side packaging plant and possibly less waste, as some of the produce in a loose bin will be rejected by consumers as they pick through it and have to be discarded).

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