October 2009
October is here, and so is the second issue of our quarterly apple e-news. We start with some research that suggests the antioxidant content of fruit may have so far been underestimated. We then look at the role apples may play in managing overweight and obesity and finally at apple antioxidants and protection against colon cancer.
SCIENTISTS REVEAL UNDERESTIMATES IN ANTIOXIDANT CONTENT OF FRUIT

Spanish researchers in collaboration with food scientists from the UK have put established phytochemical databases into doubt with their research quantifying amounts of non-extractable polyphenols in fruit (apples, nectarines and peaches).

Using acid based techniques to extract polyphenols from protein and fibre fruit residues remaining after traditional extraction methods, their results reveal non-extractable polyphenols up to five times higher than polyphenols extracted using traditional methods.

Not generally considered in nutritional studies because they've not been measured, non-extractable polyphenols from fruits such as apples may have the potential to exert antioxidant effects via surface reactions in the small intestine. Fermentation in the large colon may also generate metabolites, which may benefit the antioxidant environment providing positive effects to gastrointestinal health and potentially a chemo-preventative effect for colon cancer.

Click here for abstract
APPLES REDUCE APPETITE
OR APPLES INCREASE SATIETY

Overweight and obesity are a significant health issue for Australians, young and old. Increasing satisfaction after eating is an important strategy in weight management.

Mattes and Campbell, Professors in the Department of Food and Nutrition, Purdue University, Indiana, have shown that eating a whole apple either with a meal or on its own as a snack delays the desire to eat to a greater extent than if a beverage were consumed. In fact, eating a whole apple as a snack enabled subjects to last almost 25% longer before wanting to eat again, compared to when they had a glass of apple juice of equivalent energy value.

This research builds nicely on that of Dr Barbara Rolls, presented in the Apple Review 2009. This work showed that an apple eaten 15 minutes before lunch can reduce the kilojoules eaten at lunch by around 15%. Apples are a low kilojoule, high fibre, low GI food that easily finds a place in a healthy weight loss diet.

Click here for abstract

Flood-Obbagy & Rolls. Appetite 2008;52(2):416-422
APPLE ANTIOXIDANTS PROTECT AGAINST COLON CANCER

Colorectal cancer is the second most common malignancy among men and women in Australia and world cancer experts estimate poor diet and lifestyle are responsible for three times the number of cancer cases than genetics.

In a Polish case control study researchers examined colorectal cancer risk and diet among a hospital population and found an inverse relationship with daily number of apple serves. The most significant reduction in risk (37%) was seen at the highest quintile of apple intake (equivalent to one or more apples a day). No other fruit was significantly associated with colorectal cancer risk.

Interestingly, research published ahead of print last month adds weight to this research. Scientists from the University of Aberdeen, Ireland's Cancer registry and the University of Ottawa found non-tea quercetin intake (apples are the greatest non-tea contributor of this antioxidant in the Australian diet as reported in our last apple e-news) to be associated with a 40% reduction in colon cancer risk.

And an Italian study summarised in the Apple Report 2008 showed similar results when 8 case control studies conducted in Italy between 1991-2002 were analysed.

Click here for abstract

Cancer in Australia: an overview, 2008, AIHW Click here to read
Gallus et al. Annals of Oncology 2005:16;1841-1844
Kyle et al. Br J Nutr 2009. doi: 10.1017/S0007114509991784
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