Move over Honeycrisp, there’s a new varietal looking to be the apple of our eyes, reports The Guardian. The new Cosmic Crisp apple, shipped out to retailers over the weekend, was bred to have higher levels of sweetness and acidity, and can also be stored for more than a year, which could help in the fight against food waste.
The Cosmic Crisp was created by Washington State University’s frut-tree breeding program, and has been in development for three decades. The Guardian writes that the new apple isn’t a result of genetic modification, but rather through cross-hybidization:
The fruit, a cross between the Enterprise and Honeycrisp apple varieties, was bred to feature “naturally higher levels of acidity and sugar,” so much so that one can use less sugar while baking, researchers claim.
We haven’t tried one yet, but in addition to sounding delicious (and having an excellent name), the Cosmic Crisp has also been bred to be hearty, slow to brown when cut, and as mentioned, can last for more than a year in storage.
It’s that last point that caught our eye as the Cosmic Crisp, with such a lengthy shelf life, has the power to potentially fight food waste. In the United States alone, where 30 – 40 percent of our food supply goes to waste . If the Cosmic Crisps can last longer, that means fewer will need to be thrown out due to spoilage.
The team as Washington State University joins a number of other high-profile teams looking to make fruit last longer at the grocery store. Apeel, Hazel Technologies and StixFresh are all using different methods to extend the shelf life of produce.
If you want to taste a Cosmic Crisp apple right now, The Guardian says that 450,000 40lb boxes were shipped across the U.S. over this past weekend.
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