Did you know that an apple contains more than a million bacteria? Say ... what? This was recently discovered by scientists at the Graz University of Technology in Austria. The researchers found that eating apples is not only healthy for us because of the abundance of enzymes, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and other wonderful plant substances. We also get a great health boost to our gut flora from the different, beneficial bacteria found in an apple. Good bacteria is especially found in the core, the seeds and the pulp - less so on the peel, as one might think. In a recent study, it was also investigated whether there is a difference between apples from conventional cultivation and organic apples. The result was clear: The organic apples had much more diverse bacterial communities. In the case of organic apples, the pulp in particular showed the highest microbial diversity. The basic role of the pulp is to protect the seeds in the core and to enable their distribution for the successful propagation of the apple tree. A possible outcome of this study suggested it could be that the bacterial diversity in organic apples is similar to the effects of apple polyphenols on human health. Apple polyphenols are known not only to relieve allergic symptoms, but also to promote the growth of good bacteria such as lactobacillus and bifidobacterium in our digestive tract.
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