Home & Garden Home If Your Apple Tastes Mealier, You Can Blame Climate Change By Robin Shreeves Writer Cairn University Rowan University Wine School of Philadelphia Robin Shreeves is a freelance writer who focuses on sustainability, wine, travel, food, parenting, and spirituality. our editorial process Robin Shreeves Updated January 22, 2019 Notice a difference in the texture of that apple?. (Photo: Reika/Shutterstock) Share Twitter Pinterest Email Home Sustainable Eating Pest Control Natural Cleaning DIY Family Green Living Thrift & Minimalism Biting into a mealy apple is a disappointing experience. The apple looks crisp and fresh on the outside, but when you sink your teeth into it, it’s soft, dry and flavorless on the inside. This is usually the result of an apple that has sat around too long or been stored improperly. Japanese scientists have discovered that some apples are actually coming right off the tree mealier and less flavorful than they have in the past. Smithsonian says the scientists have determined that climate change may be responsible for slowly changing the taste and texture of Fuji and Tsugaru apples over decades. The firmness and the concentration of malic acid in the apples have declined when chemically compared with the results of apple samples dating back as far as the 1970s. Additionally, the modern apples were more susceptible to watercore, a disease that causes water-soaked regions in the apple’s flesh to break down internally over time. In other words, today’s apples were consistently mealier, less flavorful, and more disease-prone according to objective measurements such as titrating their juices to determine acid concentration, or using mechanical plungers on the fruit’s flesh to test firmness. The evidence that climate change is the culprit for the mealier, less flavorful apples isn’t conclusive, but it’s compelling.