Goodbye to Browning, Wasted Apples

Too often, a good apple is discarded when it’s partly eaten or when slices turn unappetizingly brown. It becomes food waste, a national issue in Canada in food production, restaurants, grocery stores and homes. With the development of Arctic apples, this doesn’t have to happen.  

No, they weren’t developed in the Arctic, but rather by plant breeders in Canada who wanted to stop apple loss and waste and boost apple consumption. Through bioengineering, a gene that is already found in apples has been turned off. This gene is called polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and it codes the enzyme that causes the browning reaction. 

“Often when people think about genetic engineering, they think it means taking a gene from one species and moving it into another. But in Arctic apple varieties, we’ve just turned off an apple gene, which is the approach with many applications of genome editing today,” says OSF external relations vice-president and plant scientist Sarah Evanega. 

Arctic apple varieties were developed by Okanagan Specialty Fruits (OSF), a private company started by Canadian bioresource engineer and orchardist, Neal Carter. OSF is headquartered in Summerland, BC, with orchards and production facilities in Washington, USA. 

Safety always first in food technology 

For a newly developed apple variety to be sold commercially to the wider public, it must be approved by regulatory agencies. Arctic apple varieties that are commercially available today have been approved by Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Canada, as well as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the United States. Multiple regulatory reviews, extensive field trials and over 10 years of data and studies demonstrate that Arctic apple trees grow, respond to pests, flower, fruit and harvest just like any apple trees under the same growing conditions. The only difference is that they last longer. 

Arctic Golden, Arctic Fuji, Arctic Granny, and Arctic Gala varieties are approved in Canada. And although OSF’s first Arctic varieties were Arctic Goldens and Arctic Grannys, Arctic Fujis were the first red-skinned apple variety made available at the end of 2022. Fuji apples already had a strong appeal for apple shoppers, known for the traditional, red-coloured skin and flavour profile.  

Arctic apples fit busy consumers’ behaviour 

Busy people want quick, healthy food choices, yet apple consumption in Canada has been declining. There are more fruit choices than ever on grocery shelves and fresh-cut options are increasingly popular. However, before Arctic apples, it was difficult for apples to be sold in a fresh-cut form. Other fresh-cut apples need preservatives to keep from browning, which impacts flavour. Arctic apples don’t require that treatment and better maintain their flavour. 

“One independent study suggests that kids are 71% more likely to eat sliced apples than a whole apple,” Sarah explains. “So, it’s breaking barriers that prevent people from choosing to eat an apple much the same way the introduction of ‘baby carrots’ increased carrot consumption, a game changer for consumers and for the carrot industry.” 

At this time, the company is focused on producing fresh-cut apples (not whole) in ready-to-eat slices and dices for both commercial and food service applications. 

Whether being stored at the packing facility or in the fridge at home, Arctic varieties maintain their flavour and last longer than traditional apple varieties. This means apple slices can be offered in cafeterias, salad bars, lunchboxes or in school lunch/food programs as a convenient, nutritious food choice. 

Environmental pluses 

On the production side, Arctic apples have a reduced carbon footprint, with less waste along the process of apples going from orchard to cold storage to consumers. 

Arctic varieties are less susceptible to bruising when they are picked and crated, resulting in less wasted apples from finger and bin bruising. Additionally, apples sliced and packaged before shipping don’t include the core. As a fully vertically integrated company, OSF is optimizing efficiencies that make production more sustainable.  

“When an order comes to our processing facility in Moses Lake, Washington, we can pull that apple out of controlled atmosphere storage, slice it, ship it out, and we’re only shipping the part of apple that’s going to be consumed. We can think of innovative ways to ensure that the core is put to better use. This is important in terms of carbon emissions, but also reducing freight weight by up to 30%, further reducing our carbon footprint and impact on the environment,” says Sarah. 

Emerging tools in biotechnology are an exciting growth area for OSF. The company is now using tools like CRISPR and gene editing to work with other fruit tree crops and on traits that are important for apple growers, such as disease resistance. Less disease means less wasted fruit and fewer pesticides. As governments around the world revisit their biotech regulations, OSF’s track record and already commercialized products put them in good position to continue to work toward more sustainability and equity in the food system.