The most effective way of stopping chopped apples from turning brown is to give them a good squirt of lemon juice. Lemon juice contains around 50% more Vitamin C than apples. This acts as a biological antioxidant, which stops plant cells known as phenolics, which are present in the apple, leaking out, coming into contact with oxygen and then turning brown. Lemon juice is also very acidic, since it has a pH of less than 2. Again this acidity will stop the apples from turning brown. Once the lemon juice has been added the apples should be covered very quickly, to ensure contact with air is minimised. Cut bananas will also turn brown very quickly upon contact with oxygen and lemon juice can also stop this from happening. However, lemon juice is also very sharp and so after introducing lemon juice, it is usually necessary to add some sugar to counteract the acidity and bitterness of the lemon.
There are several methods that can be used to prevent browning. One method is to brush the surface of the apple with lemon juice
Another method is to place the apples in water that has had lemon juice or cider vinegar added to make it acidulated. The squeezed lemon can also be cut into slices and added to help acidulate the water. Juice from other citrus fruit can also be used, such as oranges and grapefruit. Use approximately 1/4 cup lemon juice to 1 quart of cold water.
Do not over soak the apples. Drain and pat dry before using.
Other Options:
Ascorbic acid, a commercial product, can also be added to water to create an anti-browning solution. Dip the slices in lemon-lime soda. Soak apples slices in apple juice until ready to use. The acidity in the apple juice prevents the apple slices from browning and doesn't change the flavor of the apple.
Apples generally turn brown when they are peeled or cut because of the action of enzymes. These enzymes are known as polyphenol oxidase also known as tyrosinase. These enzymes react with the oxygen present in the air and react. The reaction is defined as oxidation. The bruising seen on these fruits when they get damaged occurs because of the same reason.
There are several ways in which the fruit can be preserved after cutting so that it does not turn brown. These steps all involve keeping it away from air and hence preventing reaction. The apple slices can be surface brushed with the juice of certain citrus fruits. Even though lemon juice is ideal for this other citrus fruits like orange, lime and grapefruit juice can also be applied. Other methods include soaking the apple slices in some sort of acidulated water. The water can be made acidulated by adding some form of citric acid into it.
There are many ways which you can use to keep the apples from turning brown. The most popular way is to squeeze a lemon over the cut apple. This prevents its oxidation. Do not put too much lemon on it. That would make them quite bitter to eat. You could also squeeze a lemon into a bowl of water and put the apple slices in it. Instead of lemon, you can also add a little vinegar to water. If you squeeze an orange on the apples, they would not turn brown either. In fact, if you cut up chunks of apples and oranges together in a bowl and mix them up, the apples do not turn brown and you have a tasty two-fruit salad to eat too.
Salt water and sugar water also work well. Just cut your apple and drop the slices into the water immediately. When you want to consume the apples, just drain the water and munch on. There might be a little salty or sweet taste left over but that is not very bothersome. In fact, I quite like salt on apples!
Although I haven't tried it, some people also say that Sprite and kool aid also work. May be you should give that a try too. Others also recommend Fruit Fresh but I think that natural products are always so much better!
I have a project about apple browning, there are a few ways: 1. Put it in salt water, but it changes the taste 2. Lemon juice or lemon water, better than salt water I am doing the improvement stage now, and I need to try out lemon water, cream soda and sprite,. I hope sprite works... =D
The lemon juice changes the flavor of the apple, try using the cheap brand of EverFresh, it worked well for my science fair project. Also try Sprite....
I thought that lemon juice would be the best liquid to keep sliced apples from turning brown, but salt water actually worked the best - the apples didn't turn brown at all. Do you have an explanation why salt water, which isn't acidic, would stop apple browning better than lemon juice, which has a much lower pH? Thanks for your help.
Apples are high in iron when you cut an apple the iron on the cut surface reacts with oxygen and makes iron oxide which is commonly called rust. And that is why apples stop turning brown from lemon juice
The most popular is putting the sliced apple on a salt and water solution, it will prevent the apple fron turning to brown and will make the apple taste sweeter and even better ..
I would say that for an apple to turn brown you would have to: 1 peel the whole apple 2 cut it into slices 3 squeeze the lemon over it 4 place it into a paper bag and let it sit for3-4 days