A new study shows
cloudy -- or unclarified -- apple juice contains up to four times the
polyphenols as some types
of clear apple juice.
But researchers say
clear apple juices dominate store shelves and sales due to their longer
shelf life and consumer perceptions they are purer.
Polyphenols, a class of antioxidants found in plants, are believed to provide a variety of healthy benefits, like fighting heart disease and cancer.
Polyphenols are also found in red wine, dark chocolate, and red berries.
Cloudy Apple Juice''s Clear Advantage
In the study, published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, researchers compared the polyphenol
content of cloudy vs. clear juices made from Idared and Champion apples.
The results showed
cloudy juices had up to four times the polyphenols of clear juice, and
cloudy juice made from Champion apples had the highest polyphenol
content.
For example, cloudy
Champion apple juice had a total polyphenolic content of 1,044
milligrams per liter (mg/L) compared with 250 mg/L found in clear
Idared juice.
Researcher Jan
Oszmianski and colleagues at the Agricultural University of Wroclaw,
Poland say the clarification process involved in creating clear apple
juice may remove solids and other compounds rich in polyphenols.