A+ Is for Apple

Not surprisingly, Rochester area apple growers are encouraging us to eat more apples to enjoy better health and help drop weight.

As a valuable diet food, apples contain zero fat or cholesterol and have only 80 calories. They’re also loaded with pectin, a soluble fiber that aids in digestion. And one apple provides as much dietary fiber as a bowl of bran cereal.

Three apples a day—one before every meal-- can help fill a person up and slim them down by displacing other food, said Linda Quinn, a registered dietician and a spokeswoman for the New York Apple Association.

Apples are an important part of our upstate economy. New York has about 700 commercial apple growers. There are a total of 222 in Monroe, Wayne, and Ontario Counties, so our area represents almost 1/3 of the farms state wide.

Apple A-Peel

It’s no secret that apples have historically played an important role in maintaining a healthful lifestyle. But what is it about the apple that “…keeps the doctor away”? Scientists in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University have concluded that the peel may, in large part, account for the potential cancer-fighting capabilities of apples.

Numerous studies have previously linked the apple’s antioxidant properties to the prevention of cancer, as well as heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and symptoms of asthma. These findings have shown that whole apples and apple products exhibit high antioxidant activity. Researchers are now looking to determine exactly which part of the apple is the most responsible for the activity.

Dr. Rui Hai Liu and his research team at Cornell looked at the chemical composition of apples and identified a group of phytochemicals that are more abundant in the peel and appear to kill or inhibit the growth of at least three different types of human cancer cells: colon, breast, and liver.

In the study, recently published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, researchers processed 230 pounds of apples and extracted the chemical content of the apple peel. Liu and his team then isolated the phytochemical compounds in the peels and tested them on each of the 3 different types of cancer cells. Of the 12 compounds tested, most exhibited potent anti-cancer activity against all 3 types of cancer cells.
In previous studies, Liu identified apple compounds that appeared to inhibit mammary tumor growth in rats. In this study, compounds called triterpenoids were effective against breast, liver, and colon cancer cells.

Apples contain a large concentration of various phytochemical compounds, including flavonoids, which act as powerful antioxidants. Liu suggests that, based on his research, apples are one of the largest sources of flavonoids in the American diet. According to the researchers, apples with peels “…may impart health benefits when consumed and should be regarded as a valuable source of natural antioxidants or bioactive compounds.”