A research published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports has claimed that due to global warming apples are loosing their crunch but it is also making them sweeter. Data gathered from 1970 to 2010 at two orchards in Japan reveals that there was clear evidence that climate change was having an effect on apple taste and texture.
The orchards used in the study produce the Fuji and Tsugaru apples, the two most popular kinds in the world. The farms are located in Japan's Nagano and Aomori prefectures, which had seen a mean air temperature rise of 0.31 and 0.34 degrees Celsius, respectively, per decade.
The orchards were chosen because there had been no changes in cultivation or management practices for extended periods, thus ruling out non-climate factors like technological improvements in the apple change.
The data collected over the years included measures of acid and sugar concentration, fruit firmness and watercore, a disease that causes water-soaked areas in the flesh of an apple. The analysis showed a decrease in acidity, firmness and watercore, but a rise in sugar concentration over time
"All such changes may have resulted from earlier blooming and higher temperatures during the growth season," they wrote in the journal Nature Scientific Reports. About 60 million tonnes of apples are produced every year, making it the world's third most popular fruit.
