When you bite into a crunchy apple, a juicy strawberry or a fuzzy peach, you get so much more than flavor and nutrients.
It turns out that fruit, an essential element of our diet, exposes us to a multitude of bacteria. The skin, the fruit pulp, the seeds are all teeming with different microbial ecosystems.
That apple, for example, can contain up to 100 million bacteria per gram! And these bacteria when consumed add to our own gut microbiome diversity and function.
The research also shows us that fruits produced under organic vs conventional management practices, reveal stark differences in bacterial diversity and composition.
Both organic and conventional fruits contain similar bacterial densities. However, the diversity and composition of these bacteria differed markedly.
Research shows that organic fruits have a higher abundance of beneficial bacteria and a richer microbial diversity, both of which are associated with improved health outcomes.
On the whole the research underscores the importance of consuming raw, local, seasonal, and preferably organic fruits.
Organic farming practices that avoid synthetic chemicals and promote natural growth processes, support a more complex and beneficial microbiome in fruits. This, in turn, enhances our own microbial diversity, contributing to a healthier gut microbiota and overall well-being.
Here’s to eating more (organic & seasonal) fruits!
Link to the study: https://www.frontiersin.org/…/10…/fmicb.2019.01629/full
Be well.
