Go Fruit!

A strict apple diet may reveal why apples are healthy

It is well documented from several studies that apples are healthy but much less is known as to why. Danish ISAFRUIT researchers are performing a study in which normal and overweight participants are subjected to a strictly controlled diet, high in apple content. The participants eat apples in the form of clear juice, cloudy juice, whole apples or dried apples for three to five months. It is hoped that the difference between the apple products will be reflected in the results and thereby reveal, which part of the apple contains the healthy compounds. View a clip from the ongoing study (in Danish).

Reflecting light improves nutrient composition of nectarines

One of the goals of the ISAFRUIT project is to improve fruit quality in an environmentally friendly, safe and sustainable way. Playing with the light in nectarine orchards is one method which fulfils these criteria and has proven to be quite successful. ISAFRUIT researchers from University of Bologna, Italy have carried out light experiments with the nectarine cultivar “Stark Red Gold”. They covered the ground between some of the rows in a nectarine orchard, with mulches that reflect light, 3-4 months before harvest and compared the nectarines with nectarines grown without mulches. The use of mulches increased light intensity with up to seven fold and the extra light made a considerable difference to the components that make up fruit. The content of phenolic compounds which are thought to be beneficial for health increased by 60 % and furthermore higher fruit yields were obtained both in terms of number and size of the fruits. Light increases the speed of ripening, so the fruits exposed to more light had a higher content of sugar and a softer texture, which might not be desirable among consumers. However, the experiment has demonstrated that increasing light exposure in the right way may be a way to produce even healthier fruits in the future. Read more 

New drying technology can increase popularity of dried fruits

Dried sour cherries produced by osmo-convection 

 

 

Group discussions with consumers in Poland and the Netherlands have revealed that they doubt dried fruit is healthy due to the relatively high sugar content. Dutch consumers also think that dried fruit is unnecessary when fresh fruits are available all year round. In order to change these consumer attitudes, ISAFRUIT researchers have developed some novel dried fruit products based on osmo-convectively dried blackcurrants and sour cherries. In osmo-convective drying, fresh fruits are soaked in a solution with a high content of one or more natural compounds e.g. prebiotics to promote a healthy intestinal flora, concentrated apple juice to give a sour taste or fruit sugars to give a sweet taste. These compounds affect the development of texture, nutrient composition and taste during drying. Sour cherries prepared in this way have been positively accepted in consumer-surveys. ISAFRUIT researcher Katarzyna Jesionkowska from Poland said: ‘This product was preferred by consumers because of its interesting taste, soft texture and nice glossy surface’. Some of the dried fruit products developed in ISAFRUIT are expected to be marketed in the spring 2010. GoFruit will report when the new products are launched.

New website for fruit allergy sufferers

About 4 % of the European population are allergic to one or more fruits. After eating specific fruits allergy sufferers most often experience mild symptoms such as itching and swelling of the tongue, lips and throat. The allergic symptoms can discourage intake of allergy-causing fruits and some fruit allergy sufferers even avoid fruits altogther to be on the safe side. 

 

A new website 'Fruit and Allergy', which has been developed as part of the ISAFRUIT project, is launched today. It aims to help fruit allergy sufferers to safely increase fruit intake without developing allergic symptoms.

 

Visit 'Fruit and Allergy' and:

- Find your fruit allergy type

- See which allergy-friendly fruits are available for you

- Get insight into ongoing research in fruit allergies

- Take part in debates and question the researchers 

 

 

Can free fruit at work improve health?

Researchers from Newcastle University and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) talk about the ISAFRUIT "fruit at work study", where workers at Durham County Hall in the UK were given free fruit to investigate if this had a positive impact on their health.

 

 

Listen to the fruit!!

Click on the image below to hear some fruity words of wisdom!