Cloudy Apple Juice 'Healthier'
|
Apples
contain high levels of antioxidants |
Cloudy
apple juice is better for you than clear
varieties, say researchers.
Polish
scientists found the levels of antioxidants
which protect against heart disease and
cancer are almost double in cloudy apple
juice.
The antioxidants, called polyphenols,
are also found in red wine, berries and
dark chocolate.
In the Journal of the Science of Food
and Agriculture, the researchers said
the manufacturing process led to fewer
polyphenols in clear apple juice.
The researchers at the Agricultural University
of Wroclaw measured the amount of procyanidins,
the main compounds containing polyphenols
in apples, in two varieties of clear and
cloudy apple juices.
If you're interested in health,
you should go for a non-clarified apple
juice
Dr Paul Kroon
They also measured the antioxidant activity
in the four juices.
Juice made from the Champion variety of
apples was found to have higher levels
of polyphenols than juice made from Idared
apples.
But overall cloudy apple juice, which
contains more pulp, was found to have
higher concentrations of antioxidants
and showed more antioxidant activity in
experiments.
There was a four-fold difference in polyphenols
between the best and worst juices.
Study leader, Dr Jan Oszmianski, said
they had found they same results for clear
and pureed or cloudy strawberry juices.
"I recommend cloudy juices as they
contain more polyphenols and pectins.
"Health benefits are expected mainly
in the case of cloudy apple juice consumption."
Polyphenols
Previous research has shown that polyphenols
contained in fruit and vegetables help
to protect against diseases such as cancer,
by mopping up free radicals which can
cause damage to cells.
Apples themselves contain a wide variety
of polyphenols but when processed into
apple juice some of these may be lost.
The manufacturing process used to make
clear apple juice, which include using
an enzyme to break down the pectin in
apple cell walls and spinning to remove
pulp, considerably decreases the levels
of polyphenols in the end product, Dr
Oszmianski explained.
Dr Paul Kroon, senior research scientist
at the Institute of Food Research in Norwich
said clear apple juices tended to be more
popular and are more stable giving them
a longer shelf life.
"A lot of polyphenols are lost when
you make a clear juice. It could also
be that because you're retaining that
cloudiness and pectin there's the additional
benefit of fibre.
"If you're interested in health,
you should go for a non-clarified apple
juice."
However, he pointed out that to get the
full benefit of antioxidants, eating an
apple would be better than drinking apple
juice.
But added that farmers have been growing
sweeter less astringent varieties of apples
which have fewer polyphenols.
"Before we knew about the them, polyphenols
were bred out of apples and now we're
looking at putting them back," he
said.
Judy Moore, spokesperson for the British
Dietetic Association and registered dietitian
said: "Almost doubling your intake
of apple polyphenols by switching from
clear to cloudy juice seems an easy option
for apple juice drinkers.
"Don't forget that eating apples
offers more health benefits than drinking
apple juice as you also get the fibre
in apples."