An apple contains 100 million bacteria, but most are good for your health.

We wash them well, sometimes we polish them to shine and when we talk about it we do not hear about whether it's better eat them with or without skin. The apple is one of the fruits most present in our daily life. What we did not know until now is that each of them contains millions of bacteria They play a vital role for our body.

We know a lot about benefits of this fruit for human consumption, our grandmothers guessed it when they insisted on eating them smarter, to see better, without too much scientific foundation but with all the knowledge of job to raise happy children.

Then nutritional studies They began to corroborate their properties and we learned more about this perfect, fresh and rich fruit and the easiest to take anywhere. They are rich in fiber, pectin, vitamins and antioxidants, They help lower cholesterol, regulate circulation, fight diabetes, reduce the risk of obesity and prevent muscle loss.

But it seems like it was not all: there was still more benefits to discover. In fact, we could talk about millions, because in this scale, you can count the microbes that are hidden in its pulp, seeds and skin. A new study published in July in Frontiers in Microbiology calculated that an apple of 240 grams contains an average of 100 million bacteria

In direct competition with traces of pesticides that we find in fruits, these microbes are very good for health. "Bacteria, viruses and fruit mushrooms temporarily colonize our intestines and enrich the human microbiota, "says Gabriela Berg, biologist at Graz University of Technology in Austria and co-author of the study.However, a diverse intestinal flora is a pledge of good regulation digestive functions, metabolic, immune and neurological conditions and, in addition, reduce the risk of infection and inflammation

If they are organic, better

Organic apples contain more good bacteria than those grown with agrochemicals. Investigators they compared apples conventional agriculture and organic apples, and badyzed for each the concentration and composition of its microbiome in different parts of the fruit. What did they observe?

First of all, what? the vast majority of bacteria (70 million) is concentrated in the base, seeds and chalice (the rest of the flower that forms the small "tail" under the apple). In principle, these microbes are not ready to colonize our intestines. The pulp contains 20 million bacteria and the skin only 1.6 million.

Second, the microbiome of organic fruits it is much more diversified than the common one, which prevents one species from seizing others and, consequently, from developing diseases or allergies. In addition, organic apples they are richer in bacteria that promote the development of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, known as probiotics. Also contains more méthylobactérie, a type of bacteria which increases the biosynthesis of aromatic strawberry compounds (which gives a good taste to the apple).

In contrast, 43% of the microorganisms contained in the common apple belong to the order of burkholderiales, which contribute to the development of pathogenic germs. According to the researchers, these compositional differences Germs can be explained by farming practices or storage conditions. Therefore, this observation would not be valid in all cases but in relation to each country and their practices for the elaboration and marketing the fruit.