There are certainly some advantages. Sliced apples would be more appealing and the number of discarded apples because of bruising will plummet. Besides this, the fruits are safe to eat. On the other side there will certainly be a strong opposition from some consumers that don’t want to eat genetically modified fruits. Furthermore, many executives from the apple industry believe this could go to such an extent that their exports will be hurt in countries that are opposed to GMO foods.
Scientists just genetically engineered Golden Delicious and Granny Smith varieties so that the production of the enzyme causing browning is suppressed. The Arctic apples, the GMO apples, do not brown like the unmodified ones after eight hours but they will still rot and turn brown over time. This is not the first time such a technique was used on food to prevent browning. Back in November the USDA approved a genetically engineered potato developed by the J.R. Simplot Company.
