The Crunch Of An Apple And Fizz Of A Soda? Yum!

First there were the delicious cotton candy grapes and now an effervescent apple that will have your mouth tingling with joy! Called "Paradis Sparkling", the unusual fruit is the result of eight years of research by Swiss fruit nursery Lubera.

Robert Maierhofer, the production manager at Lubera says he first stumbled upon the apple tree in 2006, when walking around the company orchard. The fruit of the accidental crossbreed between the Resi, an East German specimen known for its sweet texture and the English Pirouette apple, which is famous for its crunch, stood out because of its "ugly" appearance.

Not knowing what to expect, he decided to try it and immediately realized that it was the best apple he had ever consumed. The mix between the breeds had resulted in a fruit with a soft texture and heavy crunch. What impressed Maierhofer most was that when bitten into, the acidity and sugars released from the apple's large cells, created a sensation similar to that of a fizzy soda!

It took the nursery scientists a few years, but they were finally able to replicate the fruit and have recently begun selling saplings through the company's website. Though they plan to bring the fizzy fruits to market in 2015, Maierhofer does not believe they will be a big commercial success. That's because while the effervescent apples may be incredible tasting, they grow in all kinds of gnarly shapes and sizes and are therefore, not appealing to look at.

Also, in case you are planning to transform "Paradis Sparkling" apples into bubbly cider, you may be a little disappointed. That's because the fizz is just a sensation the mouth experiences from the combination of the two apple species and does not transfer to the juice, when the fruit is pressed.

Resources: odditycentral.com,lubera.co.uk,sciencealert.com