Salt water beats lemon juice for keeping apple slices from browning

Salt water is the best non-lemon trick for keeping sliced apples or pears from turning brown in a lunch box.

Browning happens when the cut fruit’s enzymes hit oxygen. Lemon works because the acid slows that reaction, but you don’t need the lemon flavor. A quick soak in salt water does the same job, and you won’t taste it if you rinse the slices after.

Mix about half a teaspoon of salt into a cup of water, toss the slices in for two or three minutes, then drain and rinse them. That’s it. They’ll hold their color for hours. Pears work the same way.

If you want something sweeter, honey water (two tablespoons honey to one cup water) also works, and it adds a little flavor. Or use a store-bought ascorbic acid mix like Fruit Fresh – that’s just vitamin C, which is the actual active ingredient in “no browning” products. But salt water is cheaper, and you already have it.

Your kid won’t know the difference, but they’ll actually eat the apple.