CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

Nothing is as flavoursome and healthy as eating a fresh fruit, especially fiber-rich apples.
Someone has rightly quoted, ‘an apple a day, keeps the doctor away’. Apples are full of dietary
fiber and great to snack on to curb cravings. They are also extremely rich in important
antioxidants called flavonoids that help in preventing the risk of chronic diseases. But it is not
safe to have an imported apple on a daily basis, considering the amount of wax that is applied on
it to make it look fresh and shiny. An apple with glossy skin may not represent freshness and
quality. Imported apples are often coated with a layer of wax to make them look more appealing.

Apples sold in supermarket are covered in wax to keep them shiny during their long
journey from the apple orchard to the supermarket. Due to sellers trying to make apples look
appealing and to last longer on the shelves, some are coating apples with wax to preserve and
make the apples look fresher than it actually is.

I interviewed three consumers of imported apples. Respondent 1 bought apples regularly

for their family to eat. Especially when they held any events in their house. When I asked her
what type of apples she bought, she answered she always bought imported apples. She, along
with her family, personally think that the color of imported apples look brighter than local
apples, thus they preferred imported apples instead. Moreover, she prefers sweet-flavoured
apples. Everytime she bought local apples, they always had sour taste, which she doesn’t like.
And that is the reason why she always bought imported apples. And then I asked her about
whether she knows of the wax on the skin of imported apples. She answered that she once saw
the news aboout it on CNN. From then on she and her family stopped buying or consuming
imported apples to avoid any possible disease to their body.

Respondent 2 is the complete opposite from respondent 1. She personally prefers local
apples. Even though the inside of imported apples is sweeter, she still buys local apples
whenever she wants. She said that local apples have sour taste which she prefers because they
are fresher. When I asked about what she knows of wax on imported apples, she admitted that
she once watched Wonderfood show on NET channel. They were talking about how imported
apples contain wax on their skin to make them look shiny and bright.

The third respondent that I interviewed said that she personally prefers imported apples
because of their sweet taste and soft meat of the apples. But that doesn’t mean she never buys
local apples, she just doesn’t consume local apples as much as she consumes imported apples.
However, she had never heard of wax coating on imported apples until I told her. Moreover, she
admitted that once she ever felt nauseous after eating an imported apple. But she let it slide
because she thought that it was only a normal stomachache.

A Nutritionist that works in Muhammadiyah Hospital Bandung named Dr. Suratman

stated that the types of wax used are beewax, shellac, and petroleum jelly. These apples are
coated with them to add shine and improve their look. According to Dr. Suratman, “The natural
wax present in apples is easily digestible and does no harm to the body. On the other hand, wax
coating is done to preserve apples for as long as they can. The wax used may not be easily
absorbed by the body and can be harmful for the colon or the small intestine. It can even bring
cancer.” So sadly, imported apples that contain wax on their skin may not be safe. Dr. Suratman
suggested us to always wash them first before we eat it. And if we are not sure of eating the skin,
we can peel them off.