Salt water beats lemon juice for lunchbox apples

Salt water is the best way to keep sliced apples from browning in a lunch box.

The browning is just an enzyme reacting with oxygen. Lemon juice works because the acid slows that enzyme down, but it leaves the fruit tasting like lemon. A quick salt water soak does the same job without changing the flavor.

Mix half a teaspoon of salt into a cup of water, drop your apple slices in for five minutes, rinse, and pack them. They’ll stay white through a full school day. The salt messes with the enzyme that causes browning, and rinsing gets the salt off so nothing tastes weird.

Honey water works too — two tablespoons of honey in a cup of water, same soak, and it adds a little sweetness. Pear and peach slices respond the same way as apples. Bananas are a lost cause; just pack those whole. And an airtight container helps, since less oxygen means less browning.

Future you deserves crisp white apples instead of sad brown mush.