Americans will soon eat apples that are genetically-modified after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the country's first engineered apple.

Created by Okanagan Specialty Fruits, the genetically-modified apples will not turn yellow or brown once they are sliced and still contain the nutrients that natural apple varieties have.

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Apples usually turn yellow, then to dark brown once sliced and left in the open. But the company claims the apple they engineered will remain fresh looking.

The USDA's approval means that experts have already undergone tests to see whether the apple trees would be vulnerable to pests or threaten other plants and agricultural produced in the United States.

The USDA's approval, however, did not give answer to questions raised by those who oppose the genetically-engineered foods.

The American agriculture regulator gave its approval to two varieties of genetically-modified apples developed by the Canadian firm.

The apple varieties have been named Arctic Granny and Arctic Golden.

"We can't wait until they're available for consumers," said Okanagan Specialty Fruits president and founder Neal Carter.

Americans, however, will have to wait until the late 2016 for a taste of the firs Artic apples, which will be available in small, test-market quantities by then.

The wide commercial distribution of the said apple varieties will take time because apple trees normally take several years to produce significant quantities.

Analysts said the said apple varieties will boost sales of sliced apples for snacks, salads and other uses because these apples will not turn yellow even after they are sliced.

"This is really huge. It's what we've waited almost five years for with regulatory approval," says Carter.

"Now we can get down to business planting trees and selling Arctic apples. We're stoked," he added.

TagsEngineered Apples, Genetically-modified Apples