Why Apple and Potato turn brown when cut open, how to prevent it, albinism

Fruits such as apples as well as some vegetables including potatoes turn brown when their flesh is exposed to air for much the same reason iron turns rusty: This is due to oxidation. When you peel or cut open a apple or the fruit gets bruised a family of enzymes called polyphenol oxidants aka tyrosinases in the cells  are exposed  to oxygen. The enzymes then cause other compounds in the fruit to combine with oxygen from the air, turning the exposed surface brown. Although brown fruit is safe to eat, you can prevent this reaction  by minimizing exposure to air, by sumberging in water or sprtzing with lemon juice or another source of ascorbic acid or vitamin C.

This is the same case with human skin too, the enzymes which regulate the effect of the pigment melanin in human skin, so they are essential to skin coloration as well as tanning. Defects in the function of these enzymes lead to albinism

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Tags: albinism, how to prevent it, Why Apple and Potato turn brown when cut open