CANBERRA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Research by Australia's peak scientific body has paved the way for the world's first-ever non-browning apples to go on sale in the United States.
Canadian biotech company Okanagan Specialty Fruits (OSF) developed the "Arctic apples" after licensing non-browning technology from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
OSF's first commercially available product was non-browning golden apple slices with more varieties, including Fuji and Granny Smith, expected to follow.
Other non-browning apple slices already exist on the market but rely on a vitamin C coating which can change their taste.
CSIRO researchers developed a gene which suppresses polyphenol oxidase (PPO), the naturally-occurring enzyme which causes fruit and vegetable to turn brown after being sliced.
"I came across research from CSIRO that had managed to 'turn off' browning in potatoes," Neal Carter, founder of OSF, said in a CSIRO media release on Friday.
"As an apple grower, I was very aware that apple consumption had been declining for decades while obesity rates had simultaneously been sharply rising.
"My wife and I felt that we could help boost apple consumption through a similar biotech approach with apples, as non-browning apples would be more appealing and convenient."
Carter said he also hoped that fruit that kept for longer would reduce food waste. The CSIRO said that browning cost the fruit-growing industry millions of dollars each year.
Scientists from the CSIRO are optimistic that the gene could be used to counteract browning in beans, lettuce and grapes as well as apples and potatoes.
