Secret behind Michelle Obama's youthful looks - Swiss apple

London, Nov 30 (ANI): A rare Swiss apple with an exceptionally long shelf-life has been found to be the secret behind US First Lady Michelle Obama's youthful looks.

According to the US edition of Vogue, the-mum-of two buys a 215 pounds serum, which uses an extract from the stem cells of the Uttwiler Spdtlauber apple.

Dubbed as "the super apple" by the magazine, it is used in creams and serums.

The stem cells from the fruit are said to excite human skin stem cells to protect skin cell regeneration and delay the onset of wrinkles.

Despite its long shelf-life, the apple has not been considered desirable until now because of its tart taste.

Swiss scientists at Mibelle Biochemistry, a subsidiary of the big Swiss retailer Migros, sought to determine whether the miracle component could be used to stop the ageing process in people.

They found the key to the apple's longevity lay chiefly in its unusually resilient stem cells.

The apple's stem cells nourished and stimulated human stem cells and defended them against UV radiation.

They made a cream containing a two per cent Uttwiler Spdtlauber extract and applied it twice daily to the "crow's feet" area under the eyes of 20 participants.

They found that wrinkle depth was reduced by an average of 15 per cent after four weeks.

"We thought there must be something in those apples which gives them their long shelf life," the Telegraph quoted Beata Hurst, marketing and sales manager at Mibelle Biochemistry as saying.

"We could show that the apple stem cells have a positive influence on the vitality of the skin stem cells. They made them more efficient and they can live longer," Hurst added.

At present there are only 20 Uttwiller Spdtlauber trees in Switzerland. (ANI)