Study finds organic apples have more diverse and balanced bacterial community

The impact of an apple a day in keeping the doctor away may be partly down to the beneficial bacteria it carries and their subsequent colonisation of your gut, according to scientists.

A study has found that a typical apple carries more than 100m bacteria. Some of these microbes are important in maintaining a healthy gut environment, or microbiome, says Prof Gabriele Berg from Graz University of Technology, Austria, one of the authors of the research.

“The bacteria, fungi and viruses in our food transiently colonise our gut,” she said. “Cooking kills most of these, so raw fruit and veg are particularly important sources of gut microbes.”

The researchers compared the bacteria in shop-bought apples with those in visually matched organic ones.