EU-Forschung: Äpfel reduzieren das Krebsrisiko auf natürliche Weise

Die Experten empfehlen, pro Tag 300 Gramm der knackigen Frucht zu verzehren. So lässt sich das Cholesterin im Blut um bis zu zehn Prozent mindern. Mit dem Cholesterinspiegel steigt die Gefahr eines Schlaganfalls oder Herzinfarkts.

Die ISAFRUIT-Forscher erkundeten auch Möglichkeiten, Krankheitserreger an Obst und Obstpflanzen ohne Pestizide zu bekämpfen. Ihr Ergebnis: Wird ein Apfel 40 Sekunden lang in 50 Grad heißes Wasser getaucht, sterben Kolibakterien, Salmonellen und Fäulniserreger ab. Pfirsiche lassen sich 20 Sekunden lang mit 60 Grad heißem Wasser behandeln.

Hintergrundinfos im Original
Eight EU-funded research projects on food quality and safety will be presented on 8 July at a conference at the European Parliament. This is part of Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn's overall initiative to communicate better on the practical benefits EU research is bringing to the EU's Europe 2020 strategy in terms of improved quality of life and as a key driver of economic growth and high quality jobs. For example, one project, ISAFRUIT, has found that eating two apples (300gr) a day can help reduce cholesterol by 10% and that dipping apples and peaches in hot water at precise temperatures can reduce brown rot by 80% and remove e-coli and salmonella bacteria. The other projects to be presented cover: tackling epizootic animal diseases such as foot and mouth disease; how diet and hereditary factors can influence the risk of cancer; setting up a Europe-wide food and nutrition information web-based service; alternative fish feeds for healthier and greener seafood; improving the freshness of industrially pre-baked bread; cereals as a weapon against metabolic disorders; and a sustainable network integrating international food research institutions.

ISAFRUIT looks at ways to increase fruit consumption in the EU by performing consumer driven research into the health benefits of fruit, and their sustainable production all along the food chain from the farm to the plate. One of the major findings of ISAFRUIT is initial nutritional studies which show that two apples (300gr) a day can help reduce cholesterol by 10%. The project also developed new protocols and methodologies for more efficient breeding of new fruit varieties, ways to reduce allergic components in fruits, and new sustainable and safer technologies to fight against fruit pests and diseases through the diminished or non-use of pesticides. In this context, it has demonstrated that dipping peaches for 20 second in hot water at 60 degrees can reduce brown rots by 80%. For apples the treatment is 40 seconds at 50-52 degrees. The treatment shows its efficiency for removing rot agents, human pathogens such as Escherichia coli, salmonella and listeria and allowing energy saving by heating water with hot gas from cooling plants. Finally, ISAFRUIT's researches focused also on the development of new dried fruits appealing products to increase fruit consumption among young people.

(Quelle: EU-Kommission)
(Foto: Anne Dittrich;PIXELIO.de)