Mum's disgusting find inside ALDI Pink Lady apple

"This really makes you wonder how old they are by the time it gets to us buying them," one viewer commented. 

An Aussie mum has been left completely shocked after biting into an apple from ALDI and discovering it was sprouting inside. 

The woman, Emma, took to the ALDI Mums Facebook group to share her find and warn others. 

"So these Pink Lady apple seeds had sprouted inside the apple," she wrote on Sunday. 

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Image: Facebook

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"Never seen this before"

The photo shows the core of a half-eaten apple with a long white stem coming out of one of the seeds. 

At first glance, it could easily be mistaken for a worm, but upon closer inspection, it appears to be a seedling.  

"Never seen this before. I purchased it from ALDI on Wednesday," she added. 

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"Yuckkkkk 🤮"

The discovery repulsed several group members, with one admitting, "This icks me out."

Another simply wrote, "Yuckkkkk. 🤮"

Then others quipped, "Two for one bargain, plant it!" and, "Grow your own apple tree - you'll never have to shop for them again!"

Meanwhile, others theorised how this strange phenomenon came to be, with many pointing to storage issues as the culprit. 

"It's because they're stored for so long," one wrote, while another added, "Yikes, makes sense. They're kept in cold storage all year round after they're picked in May, so these would be last year's apples."

Then someone else commented: "This really makes you wonder how old they are by the time it gets to us buying them."

"Hearing how long apples are stored for has made me go off apples altogether," said another group member. 

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"How cool is Mother Nature?"

However, others didn't believe it had anything to do with storage conditions and instead said they found it fascinating. 

One wrote, "How cool is Mother Nature? This is natural and happens to lots of different fruits, not just apples."

"I grow fruit and veg organically in my garden. It is NOT always a storage issue as suggested," another said.

"I had that happen and grew an apple tree right after I saw the sprouted seed," a third shared. 

"It's normal, at least they are not GMO," someone else pointed out. 

Why does this happen?

Then someone else suggested it's something called "vivipary", and they're bang on the money.

According to plant expert @growithjessie, apple seeds can indeed germinate inside the apple itself - a process called vivipary, where seeds germinate while still attached to the parent plant. 

"It is a common occurrence in some plant species, including some apple varieties," she explains in a TikTok video. "When this occurs, the seed begins to grow a tiny root and shoots while still inside the apple.

"The seeds inside the apple are surrounded by the apple's flesh, which provides them with moisture and nutrients, so they develop and grow. This can happen if the apple is left in a warm and moist environment and then put back in the fridge."

So, there you have it! Case closed. 

Originally published as Mum's disgusting find inside ALDI Pink Lady apple