Lemon-Info.com

Are you tired of throwing away apples as they turn brown soon after they are cut and your choosy kids refuse to eat them? Obviously, you can’t even offer brown apples to your guests. So, ultimately there is no alternative left other than to throw them away or perhaps try to scrape off the brown portions and salvage them for applesauce. But what if your apples do not turn brown anymore when you have cut them? Doesn’t that sound great? Of course, that is possible!

Lemon juice on apples is a great solution to your problem. This is a common method that has been used since the days of yore to retain the original color of the apple. It is basically the polyphenol oxidase or PPO enzymes that are present in chloroplasts of apples that cause rapid oxidation of phenolic compounds in apple tissues. This is what causes these fruits to turn brown so quickly after they are cut and come in contact with oxygen.

These compounds are then turned into o-quinones that are colorless precursors for brown-colored products. The brown color is thereby produced by O-quinones as they react with proteins or amino acids and form compounds.

The mild acids contained in lemon juice are able to stop the oxidation process, which means that the apples do not turn brown so soon. Many people have also considered vinegar for this purpose, but as it undergoes the fermentation process, vinegar is a lot stronger when compared with lemon juice. So, it is actually the mildness of acid in lemon juice that is the key to prevent apples from turning brown.

After you have procured your apples, store them in the refrigerator to keep them fresh until you wish to eat them. However, make sure you consume them within a week of purchase to avert rotten apples. Now, when you are ready to eat and have sliced the apples into pieces, keep them in a bowl with cold water.

The next step is to take them out and sprinkle some lemon juice on apples to prevent them from browning due to oxidation. Or you may also consider the idea of simply draining the chopped apples into the water bowl that also contains lemon juice and set them out.

Once you have sprinkled or drained apple slices in lemon juice, you can store them in Tupperware containers or in a zip lock bag until you are ready to have them. This would ensure that the apples do not turn brown even when they are cut for a long time.

Hence, now you do not need to throw away your apples because if you follow the above mentioned solution, you would never have to worry about your apples turning brown at all. Though this would definitely change the taste of apples a little as they will taste somewhat sour; however, many people tend to like this new flavor. Alternatively, you can just rinse off the lemon juice from the apples before eating, which should alleviate much of the sour taste. Either way, you can try it out for yourself and have an apple treat for your family this weekend!