A while back I heard a researcher talking on the ABC radio who had found that when fruit is damaged on a tree - say hail damage, some insects, rubbing  etc  - the tree will heal this damage causing a skin blemish but the fruit does not rot  on the tree -  We might see this on apricots, peaches, nectarines, apples, pears, nashi, plums. I had a destructive attack by slugs on some apricots just after set but the tree healed the skin damage. Although cosmetically the fruit looked unattractive  it was fine to eat - in fact it tasted delicious, it was full of juice and had great texture. I had some apricots from a supermarket - by comparison they were dry, tasteless, and flowery.

However by contrast  - once the fruit is picked, because the tree cannot produce the antibodies  - when the skin is damaged the fruit begins to rot. 

The resreacher discovered that fruit still on the tree with blemishes are very rich in beneficial antibodies - and that over the past 50 or so years due to commercial food production, sorting, storage transportation etc.  we have taken this natural antibiotic completely out of our diet  -

He also found that to gain the most from this natural protection effect the fruit had to be eaten as soon as possible after it was picked.  Ironically, it maybe that the fruit we have been discarding for years is actually the most beneficial.

We have a large home orchard with more than 160 varieties of fruit  -  and following his broadcast I have been eating as much of the blemished fruit ( that I would normal have discarded ) and it appears to have had a positive effect on my health - stiil alive and feeling good

- so enjoy