US scientists chasing down fatty apples

Making apples even more healthy!

Scientists have developed the technology to produce low-sugar fruits with up to half the calories of normal varieties, a report has revealed. Though fruit is healthy, its high sugar content can be a problem for people on low-calorie diets.

A team at the University of California used apples to show that it is possible to tweak the level of the natural sweetener, sorbitol, to create "mutant apples", according to the magazine Chemistry and Industry. Sorbitol, fructose and sucrose are all found naturally in fruit. But while sucrose and fructose provide four calories per gram, sorbitol is 2.6 calories per gram - a 45pc reduction.

The research has involved genetic modification of the fruit, but plant breeders could use natural methods to achieve the same end by selecting mutants produced by nature.