APPLES — THEIR NUTRITIONAL VALUE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 98, 9 May 1941, Page 9

APPLES — THEIR NUTRITIONAL VALUE

By Dr.

Muriel

Bell

HILDREN never say "No" to € fruit, whatever may be their reaction to spinach. Farmer Brown’s apples are always a temp-tation-escapades in plenty are on record of excursions into forbidden territory and up forbidden trees. Perhaps this is an instinctive compulsion, for apples are one of the "protective" foods. We _ classify foods into those that are protective and those that are supplementary or energy foods. Why can they claim to be called "protective"? Possibly you will contend that they are nearly all water. But they have food value, too. They contain starches and sugars in varying proportions, giving them a little fuel or energy value as well. The protective nature of the apple arises partly from its power of acting as a laxative to ‘the intestine, partly from its action in assisting in resistance against disease. Its laxative qualities come from the stimulating effect which-the material of the cell walls of all plant tissues have on the movements of the intestine, as well as from the organic acids present, These organic acids actually turn into alkalis before the body has finished

with them, and the apple has indeed more alkali in it than acid. The organic acid contained in ripe apples is only a mild acid, and possesses no retarding effect on the digestion of starch, and indeed the apple exemplifies the fact that there is no harm in combining acids and starches in our foods. Resistance to Disease Its power of helping us to resist disease is conferred by two constituents. First, the vitamin C which is protective against scurvy by keeping our capillary blood vessels strong, and which helps the baby form good teeth, and which also provides us with a means of acquiring immunity to the action of harmful bacteria. Vitamin C is always used up in illnesses when we run a temperature; when we have a cold we crave for orange and lemon and black currant drinks which are the richest sources of this vitamin. The second protective substance is pectin, the material which the housewife boils out to form her apple jelly. It is by virtues of the pectin present that grated ripe apples are useful as a cure for summer sickness in babies, a home remedy that has been known in Europe for a century, but only recently applied in English-speaking countries. Pectin contains substances called uronic acids; these have the power of combining with toxins produced by the bacteria which causes diarrhoea. The pectin has the further power of helping the blood to congeal when there is inflammation. Thus we find that the apple has a sort of two-

"way action-protective against constipation and curative of diarrhoea. The pectin is still present in cooked apples, | indeed it is liberated during the process of cooking. The apple is still valuable therefore after it has been cooked, even though its vitamin C may have been destroyed during the cooking. If we add to these qualities its mineral salts and the value of a raw applein cleansing the teeth, the apple is truly an agent which keeps not only the doctor, but also the dentist away. [Next week: "Colds-the Common Enemy" ]