Bernard Krotler and his colleagues at the University of Innsburg have found that the breakdown of chlorophyll in plants (a substance that gives them a green color) leads to the formation of products
Bernard Krotler and his colleagues at the University of Innsburg have found that the breakdown of chlorophyll in plants (a substance that gives them a green color) leads to the formation of products (causing yellow, orange, red color) during the ripening of apples and pears, which are identical with those contained in the yellowed in the fall leaves of fruit trees.
According to scientists, these substances - non-fluorescent chlorophyll catabolites (NHC) are active antioxidants. Like chlorophyll and heme chemically, they also contain pyrrole rings. When examining the peels of ripe apples and pears, it was found that in them, as well as in the underlying layer of the flesh, these antioxidants are in high quantities. Chlorophyll is a major energy source for plants through its participation in the phototoxic effect. However, its products have the opposite effect.
That is why eating the whole fruit - apple or pear, turns out to be more useful for humans and animals. Another substance that has been assigned such a role, contained in the most superficial layer of the fruit, are flavonoids.