We know apples in a multitude of colors ranging from yellow, green and pink to red. The difference in their skin color is due to the natural pigments they contain, which develop as the apple ripens. But how do you get a red pulp?
The pulps are not always white in color, as most people would assume. The colors cover the entire spectrum, from light pink to deep purple and even black. Relatively new to the fruit world, red-fleshed apples are still a rare sight.
The apples are red inside because they belong to a variant that has a natural red flesh or because it has reacted with the air and the oxidation process has turned the inside of the apple reddish brown. Regardless of the reason, we don’t have to worry about the apple having red skin. As long as it looks and smells good, it should be good to eat.
naturally red
One of the reasons some apples have red flesh is that they are naturally grown to have this unique pigmentation. They are found in some regions of Central Asia and Eastern Europe.
The flesh of these apples ranges from bright pink to bright red and even orange. They also have different colored flowers compared to the white flowers found on regular apple trees. Depending on the tree, you may have light pink to bright pink flowers on red-fleshed apple trees.
However, most red-fleshed apple varieties tend to be too bitter and are not the best for consumption. For this reason, farmers decided to cross tart-tasting, red-fleshed apples with sweet, luscious white-fleshed apples to produce marketable apples with red flesh inside.
As a result, some varieties of red-fleshed apples are sweet, while others can be a bit tart, like other white-fleshed apples. Sweet-tasting, red-fleshed apples are not only a novelty to grow, they may also have antioxidant properties.
oxidation process
Another reason apples sometimes turn reddish-brown from the inside is due to the oxidation process where the apple reacts with oxygen in the air and changes color. It mainly occurs when we cut an apple and leave it for a while. As soon as the fleshy part of the apple is exposed to air, it will begin to oxidize and change its color from yellowish white to pink and finally reddish brown.
This can happen with any type of apple and is not limited to those with white or red flesh. Depending on the age of the apple and the environmental conditions it has been exposed to, the process may be faster or slower. The reason this happens is due to the presence of phenol inside the apples, which oxidizes easily and gradually changes the color of the apple from white to brown.
This effect can also sometimes lead to deep red streaks in the flesh, which mostly only occur if the skin of the apple was damaged before cutting. Some of the red color from the damaged skin can seep into the meat, resulting in red or pink streaks on the inside.
