Red Delicious and Nutritious, Ice Cream Quickie, Tastier Tomatoes, Semisweet Ending

Red Delicious and nutritious

Researchers at Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada report in the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry (2005, 53, 4989) that some varieties of apples have higher levels of antioxidant activity than others. They also attribute antioxidant activity to polyphenol concentrations.

The group analyzed the flesh and peels of eight varieties: Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, McIntosh, Empire, Ida Red, Northern Spy, Mutsu, and Cortland. Varieties with higher levels of two polyphenols, epicatechin and procyanidin B2, had more antioxidant activity. The study also found that polyphenol levels are five times more prevalent in the peels than in the flesh.

Red Delicious apple peels have the most antioxidant activity. For those who shun polyphenol-laden apple peels, Northern Spy apples have the most antioxidant activity in their flesh. Empire apples ranked last for both the flesh and peel.

Now if only researchers could compare apples with oranges.

Ice cream quickie

Chemistry World, the Royal Society of Chemistry's (RSC) monthly magazine, reported on its website on June 22 that a new world record had been set--in ice cream-making.

Polymer physicist Peter Barham of England's University of Bristol broke his own record by churning out a liter of ice cream in 18.78 seconds, as verified by Guinness World Records. The secret to his sweet success? Liquid nitrogen.

Mixing cream and icing sugar with liquid nitrogen removes heat from the ingredients. Barham calculated a mixing model and theorizes that the ice cream could be made in as little as 4.2 seconds. His unofficial fastest time is nine seconds.

Barham made the attempt at the June 21 launch of "Kitchen Chemistry," a book for schools compiled by Ted Lister of RSC and Heston Blumenthal, chef at the Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire, U.K. The book covers the chemistry of cooking, including topics on flavor, enzymes and jellies, and, of course, the science of ice cream. Copies of "Kitchen Chemistry" will be distributed to all schools and colleges in the U.K. later this year.

Tastier tomatoes

Israeli biotech company Evogene announced a partnership in May with the Breeding & Research Group of the Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, otherwise known as BonTom. The two groups are on a mission to develop a tastier tomato.

Evogene blames a focus over the years on increasing yields for current tomatoes' lackluster taste and aroma. The partners will use Evogene's expertise in computational genomics and its proprietary tomato genomics database as well as BonTom's tomato gene pool to isolate genomic markers that can track key taste and aroma genes for use in breeding programs.

Semisweet ending

What better way to wrap up this food edition of Newscripts than with more news that it's beneficial to not pass on dessert, at least of the dark chocolate variety?

Charalambos Vlachopoulos, a cardiologist at Hippokration Hospital at Athens Medical School in Greece, and colleagues report in the June issue of the American Journal of Hypertension (2005, 18, 785) that flavonoid-rich dark chocolate may have a protective effect on the cardiovascular system.

The researchers measured the effect of dark chocolate on endothelial function, aortic stiffness, wave reflections, and oxidant status of 17 young and healthy volunteers over a three-hour period. The volunteers ate 100 g of commercially available dark chocolate. (By comparison, a Dove dark chocolate bar is 36.9 g, or 1.3 oz.)

Chocolate consumption led to a significant increase in dilation of the brachial artery in the arm as well as a decrease in aortic stiffness. Vlachopoulos and his colleagues concede that further studies are needed to assess long-term effects. The Newscripts gang will gladly volunteer.

This week's column was written by Rachel Pepling . Please send comments and suggestions to newscripts@acs.org.