An Apple Contains about 100 Million Bacteria: Are They Good or Bad for Health?

Are you among those busy people who hardly get time to have their breakfast and choose to grab an apple while rushing to office, school or college?  Then you have good and bad news as well. As per a new study published in Frontiers in Microbiology, an apple contains 100 million bacteria in it.  

As said, an apple in a day keeps the doctor away. How far it’s true? Let’s analysis the hidden truth behind the saying. According to a new study, it largely depends on the type of bacteria the apple carries. 

But are these bacteria good for you? 

Apples are one of the most popular fruits in the world. In 2018, the United States alone produced approximately 5.13 million tons of apples, according to some statistic reports. 

This much-loved fruit is an excellent source of nutrients containing vitamin C, multiple B-complex vitamins, natural antioxidants, and numerous minerals. Apples are also a good source of dietary fiber. 

Recently, a team of researchers from the Graz University of Technology in Austria decided to find out more about the bacteria that come with our "apple a day." 

They were interested in finding out whether there was a difference between the bacterial populations carried by organic, hand-grown apples, and those present in typical store-bought apples, which have often had more exposure to chemical fertilizers and pesticides. 

The team's findings, which appear in the journal “microbiology”, highlight just how many bacteria a typical apple carries. They also show how the bacterial populations present in organic apples may affect the fruit's taste and the consumer's health.

Your stomach needs a balance of healthy bacteria, which (as the study has found) can be provided with organic apples. Organic apples harbor a distinct bacterial community. Bacteria present in these apples that can be beneficial for your overall health. 

Escherichia Shigella is a group of bacteria is also known as pathogens. It was found in most conventional apple samples, but not in the organic ones.  

On the other hand, the beneficial probiotic lactobacilli bacteria was found in organic apples. Organic apples were also found to have more of methylobacterium.  

This bacteria is popular for facilitating biosynthesis of strawberry flavor compounds. Peel and flesh of organic apples had more diverse microbiota than seeds, calyx or stems. 

Fresh and organic apples have much more advantage than you think 

Both organic and conventional apples were found with a similar number of bacteria. Averages of each apple component were put together. And the result comes like this. A typical 240 gm apple was found to have around 100 million bacteria. Majority of these bacteria was found in seeds, with the flesh accounting for the rest of the bacteria. 

“Cooking kills most of the healthy bacteria.  Raw fruit and vegetable are particularly important sources of gut microbes," said Professor Gabriele Berg from the Graz University of Technology in Austria. 

Go for fresh, organic fruits which can provide healthy bacteria to our body. Maybe you got shocked, but all bacteria exist in the world is not bad, some exist to help your health.