| When buying apples, look for those that are | | | | apple pies firm by treating them with calcium |
| firm and brightly colored. Shiny red for | | | | while home bakers will have to rely on |
| Macintosh, Rome and red Delicious. Clear | | | | careful timing.To prevent baked apples from |
| green for Granny Smith and golden yellow for | | | | melting into mush, core the apple and fill |
| Delicious. Always avoid bruised apples. When | | | | the center with sugar or raisins to absorb |
| an apple is damaged, the injured cells | | | | the moisture released as the apple cooks. |
| release polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that | | | | Cutting away a circle of peel at the top will |
| hastens the oxidation of phenols in the | | | | allow the fruit to swell without splitting |
| apple, producing brownish pigments that | | | | the skin.Red apple skins are colored with red |
| darken the fruit. It's easy to check loose | | | | anthocyanin pigments. When an apple is |
| apples. If you buy them packed in a plastic | | | | cooked, the anthocyanins combine with sugars |
| bag, turn the bag upside down and examine the | | | | to form irreversible brownish compounds. |
| fruit.Store apples in the refrigerator. Cool | | | | Apples can be process by drying. To keep |
| storage keeps them from losing the natural | | | | apple slices from turning brown as they dry, |
| moisture that makes them crisp. It also keeps | | | | apples may be treated with sulfur compounds |
| them from turning brown inside, near the | | | | but that may cause serious allergic reactions |
| core, a phenomenon that occurs when apples | | | | in people allergic to sulfites.Besides, apple |
| are stored at warm temperatures. Apples can | | | | could also be made into juice. Clear apple |
| be stored in a cool, dark cabinet with plenty | | | | juice has been filtered to remove the pulp. |
| of circulating air.Check the apples from time | | | | Ninety-eight percent of all juices, including |
| to time. They store well, but the longer the | | | | apple juices, sold in the United States are |
| storage, the greater the natural loss of | | | | pasteurized to stop all natural enzyme action |
| moisture and the more likely the chance that | | | | that would otherwise turn sugars to alcohols, |
| even the crispest apple will begin to taste | | | | eventually producing the mildly alcohol |
| mealy.When preparing apples, do not peel or | | | | beverage known as apple cider (non alcoholic |
| slice an apple until you are ready to use it. | | | | cider is plain apple juice). Pasteurization |
| When you cut into the apple, you tear its | | | | also protects juices from potentially harmful |
| cells, releasing polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme | | | | bacterial and mold contamination.Apples also |
| that darkens the fruit. Acid inactivates | | | | have medical benefits. They are use as an |
| polyphenoloxidase, so you can slow the | | | | antidiarrheal. The pectin in apple is a |
| browning (but not stop it completely) by | | | | natural antidiarrheal that helps solidify |
| dipping raw sliced and/or peeled apples into | | | | stool. Shaved raw apple is sometimes used as |
| a solution of lemon juice and water or | | | | a folk remedy for diarrhea, and purified |
| vinegar and water or by mixing them with | | | | pectin is an ingredient in many |
| citrus fruits in a fruit salad. | | | | over-the-counter antidiarrheals.Apples can |
| Polyphenoloxidase also works more slowly in | | | | also be used to lower cholesterol levels. |
| the cold, but storing peeled apples in the | | | | Soluble fiber (pectin) may interfere with the |
| refrigerator is much less effective than | | | | absorption of dietary fats, including |
| immersing them in an acid bath.When you cook | | | | cholesterol. The exact mechanism by which |
| an unpeeled apple, insoluble cellulose and | | | | this occurs is still unknown, but one theory |
| lignin will hold the peel intact through all | | | | is that the pectins in the apple may form a |
| normal cooking. The flesh of the apple, | | | | gel in your stomach that sops up fats and |
| though, will fall apart as the pectin in its | | | | cholesterol, carrying them out of your body |
| cell walls dissolves and the water inside its | | | | as waste.Cindy is the host of a Free Asian |
| cell swells, rupturing the cell walls and | | | | Recipes website dedicated to all things on |
| turning the apples into applesauce. | | | | Asian Cooking and Culinary Guide. |
| Commercial bakers keep the apples in their | | | | |