The Chemistry Of Fruit Browning

May 12, 2015 By Janice VanCleave

How To Keep Apples From Browning

The peel of an apple prevents oxygen from coming in contact with the chemicals
inside the apple.
Cutting an apple breaks the cells of the apple. Thus the broken cells on the cut
surface of the apple are exposed to oxygen in air.
There is a series of chemical reactions that begin when the apple cells are
broken.
1. Each apple cell has organelles called chloroplasts and vacuoles. When sliced,
these organelles, chloroplasts and vacuoles, release polyphenol oxidase (PPO)
enzyme and phenols respectively.
In the presence of oxygen, the polyphenol oxidase enzymes rapidly oxidize the
phenols forming quinones. This is an aerobic oxidation reaction, which means
the phenols chemically combine with oxygen.
3.The quinones combine with each other forming a brown pigment called
melanin. As the amount of melanin increases the darker will be the surface of the
sliced apple.

In A Nut Shell!
The browning of cut fruit is due to oxidation, but this process is speeded up by
an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase. Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) is also called
tyrosinase
Enzymes are generally sensitive to changes in pH. The low pH of the acid in
citrus fruit affects the weak ionic bonds that holds the structure of the polyphenol
oxidase enzymes together. The change in the structure of an enzyme is called
denaturing. A denatured enzyme can no longer do its job, thus denatured
polyphenol oxidase cannot speed up the oxidation of the phenols.
Coating the surface of sliced apples with lemon juice, which has a low pH,
denatures the polyphenol oxidase, so the browning (oxidation) process that is
slowed considerably.
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