Apples are the perfect snack to have in the house – tart and tasty, they’re great for baking, in yogurt, or by themselves…until the day you go to grab that last apple and find that it’s mushy and overripe.
Well, science is thinking it can help make that disappointing moment a thing of the past with these new “Cosmic Crisp” apples.
The Washington-grown hybrid was bred at Washington State University and is a cross between Enterprise and Honeycrisp apples. Researchers began working on the patented breed in 1997, and now, over 20 years later, it’s officially ready to hit stores.
According to reports, the Cosmic Crisp apples resist bruising and browning better than any other kind of apple. It also has an extremely long storage life – to the tune of around six months in a regular fridge. In a suitably controlled atmosphere, the apples can stay nice and crisp up to a full year.
Which means that not only will you not have to deal with mushy, past-their-prime apples, you also could have in-season fruit pretty much any time of the year you’d like.
The long shelf life also means less waste in the long run, but what about taste?
Well, a 2012 report published by the American Society for Horticultural Science claims that a control group of consumers rated the Cosmic Crisp apple higher than Fuji in the categories of sweetness, sourness, flavor intensity, crispness, firmness, juiciness, and overall acceptance.
The creators even boast that, if you’re baking with the apple, you should be able to reduce the amount of sugar your recipe calls for.
If you’re curious, the whitish specks on the apple’s skin earned it its name – Cosmic – and allow the apple to exchange gases with its environment.
Isn’t science kind of a miracle all on its own? I certainly think so!
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