Apples are the poster child for longevity in our collective imagination. Remember the Snow White apple? That poisoned one looked perfect for days—total fantasy. In reality, a sliced apple left out in the open will brown in 10 to 15 minutes thanks to oxidation.
Then there’s the classic saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." That’s great advice, but only if you eat it before it becomes a science project. Ancient Roman orchards stored apples in cool pits filled with straw, a technique that kept them fresh for months. They understood the game way before we invented refrigeration.
