Apple
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 Apple tree (Malus domestica) | ||||||||||||||||
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| Malus domestica Borkh. | ||||||||||||||||
The apple is a tree and its pomaceous fruit, of the species Malus domestica in the rose family Rosaceae. It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits. It is a small deciduous tree reaching 5-12 m tall, with a broad, often densely twiggy crown. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple oval with an acute tip and serrated margin, slightly downy below, 5-12 cm long and 3-6 cm broad on a 2-5 cm petiole. The flowers are produced in spring with the leaves, white, usually tinged pink at first, 2.5-3.5 cm diameter, with five petals. The fruit matures in autumn, and is typically 5-9 cm diameter (rarely up to 15 cm). The centre of the fruit contains five carpels arranged star-like, each carpel containing one or two (rarely three) seeds.
Origin of name
The word 'apple' comes from the Old English word æppel, which in turn has recognisable cognates in a number of the northern branches of the Indo-European language family. The prevailing theory is that 'apple' may be one of the most ancient Indo-European words (*abl-) to come down to English in a recognisable form.Template:Fact The scientific name malus, on the other hand, comes from the Latin word for apple, and ultimately from the archaic Greek mālon (mēlon in later dialects). The legendary placename Avalon is thought to come from a Celtic evolution of the same root as the English 'apple'; the name of the town of Avellino, near Naples in Italy is likewise thought to come from the same root via the Italic languages. Linnaeus assigned the apple to the genus Pyrus, along with pears and quinces. Philip Miller subsequently separated the apple into its own genus, a division repeatedly ratified over the years.
Botanical information
The wild ancestor of Malus domestica is Malus sieversii. It has no common name in English, but is known in Kazakhstan, where it is native, as 'alma'; in fact, the region where it is thought to originate is called Alma-Ata, or 'father of the apples'. This tree is still found wild in the mountains of Central Asia in southern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Xinjiang, China.
For many years, there was a debate about whether M. domestica evolved from chance hybridisation among various wild species. Recent DNA analysis by Barrie Juniper, Emeritus Fellow in the Department of Plant Sciences at Oxford University and others, has indicated, however, that the hybridisation theory is probably false. Instead, it appears that a single species still growing in the Ili Valley on the northern slopes of the Tien Shan mountains at the border of northwest China and the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan is the progenitor of the apples we eat today. Leaves taken from trees in this area were analyzed for DNA composition, which showed them all to belong to the species M. sieversii, with some genetic sequences common to M. domestica.Template:Fact
Some individual M. sieversii, recently planted by the US government at a research facility, resist many diseases and pests that affect domestic apples, and are the subject of continuing research to develop new disease-resistant apples.Template:Fact
Other species that were previously thought to have made contributions to the genome of the domestic apples are Malus baccata and Malus sylvestris, but there is no hard evidence for this in older apple cultivars. These and other Malus species have been used in some recent breeding programmes to develop apples suitable for growing in climates unsuitable for M. domestica, mainly for increased cold tolerance.Template:Fact
The apple tree was perhaps the earliest tree to be cultivated, and apples have remained an important food in all cooler climates. To a greater degree than other tree fruit, except possibly citrus, apples store for months while still retaining much of their nutritive value. Winter apples, picked in late autumn and stored just above freezing, have been an important food in Asia and Europe for millennia, as well as in Argentina and in the United States since the arrival of Europeans.Template:Fact
Apple cultivars
- See List of apple cultivars for a listing.
There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples. Different cultivars are available for temperate and subtropical climates. Reputedly the world's biggest collection of apple cultivars is housed at the National Fruit Collection in England. Apples do not flower in tropical climates because they have a chilling requirement.
Commercially popular apple cultivars are soft but crisp. Other desired qualities in modern commercial apple breeding are a colourful skin, absence of russeting, ease of shipping, lengthy storage ability, high yields, disease resistance, typical 'Red Delicious' apple shape, long stem (to allow pesticides to penetrate the top of the fruit), and popular flavour.
Old cultivars are often oddly shaped, russeted, and have a variety of textures and colours. Many of them have excellent flavour (often better than most modern cultivars), but may have other problems which make them commercially unviable, such as low yield, liability to disease, or poor tolerance for storage or transport. A few old cultivars are still produced on a large scale, but many have been kept alive by home gardeners and farmers that sell directly to local markets. Many unusual and locally important cultivars with their own unique taste and appearance are out there to discover; apple conservation campaigns have sprung up around the world to preserve such local cultivars from extinction. In the United Kingdom old cultivars such as Cox's Orange Pippin and Egremont Russett are still commercially important even though by modern standards they are low yielding and disease prone.
Although most cultivars are bred for eating fresh (dessert apples), some are cultivated specifically for cooking (cooking apples) or producing cider. Cider apples are typically too tart and astringent to eat fresh, but they give the beverage a rich flavour that dessert apples cannot.
Modern apples are, as a rule, sweeter than older cultivars. Most North Americans and Europeans favour sweet, subacid apples, but tart apples have a strong minority following. Extremely sweet apples with barely any acid flavour are popular in Asia and especially India.
Tastes in apples vary from one person to another and change continually over time. As an example, the U.S. state of Washington made its reputation for apple growing on Red Delicious. In recent years, many apple connoisseurs have come to regard the Red Delicious as inferior to cultivars such as Fuji and Gala due to its merely mild flavour and insufficiently firm texture.
Commerce and uses
45 million tons of apples were grown worldwide in 2002, with a value of about 10 billion USD. China produced almost half of this total. Argentina is the second leading producer, with more than 15% of the world production. The United States is the third leading producer, accounting for 7.5% of world production. Turkey is also a leading producer. France, Italy, South Africa and Chile are among the leading apple exporters.
In the United States, more than 60% of all the apples sold commercially are grown in Washington state. Imported apples from New Zealand and other more temperate areas are competing with US production and increasing each year.
Apples can be canned, juiced, and optionally fermented to produce apple juice, cider, vinegar, and pectin. Distilled apple cider produces the spirits applejack and Calvados. Apple wine can also be made. They make a popular lunchbox fruit as well.
Apples are an important ingredient in many winter desserts, for example apple pie, apple crumble, apple crisp and apple cake. They are often eaten baked or stewed, and they can also be dried and eaten or re-constituted (soaked in water, alcohol or some other liquid) for later use. Puréed apples are generally known as apple sauce. Apples are also made into apple butter and apple jelly. They are also used cooked in meat dishes.
- In the UK, a toffee apple is a traditional confection made by coating an apple in hot toffee and allowing it to cool. Similar treats in the US are candy apples (coated in a hard shell of crystallised sugar syrup), and caramel apples, coated with cooled caramel.
- Apples are eaten with honey at the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah to symbolise a sweet new year.
- Farms with apple orchards may open them to the public, so consumers may themselves pick the apples they will buy.
Health benefits
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An old proverb attests to the health benefits of the fruit: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Research suggests that apples may reduce the risk of colon cancer, prostate cancer and lung cancer.[1] Like many fruits, apples contain Vitamin C as well as a host of other antioxidant compounds, which may reduce the risk of cancer by preventing DNA damage. The fibre content, while less than in most other fruits, helps regulate bowel movements and may thus reduce the risk of colon cancer. They may also help with heart disease, weight loss and controlling cholesterol, as they do not have any cholesterol, have fibre (which reduces cholesterol by preventing reabsorption), and are bulky for their caloric content like most fruits and vegetables.
A group of chemicals in apples could protect the brain from the type of damage that triggers such neurodegenerative diseases as Alzheimer's and Parkinsonism. Chang Y. 'Cy' Lee of the Cornell University found that the apple phenolics, which are naturally occurring antioxidants found in fresh apples, can protect nerve cells from neurotoxicity induced by oxidative stress. The researchers used red delicious apples from New York State to provide the extracts to study the effects of phytochemicals. Lee said that all apples are high in the critical phytonutrients and that the amount of phenolic compounds in the apple flesh and in the skin vary from year to year, season to season and from growing region to growing region (November/December 2004 issue of the Journal of Food Science). The predominant phenolic phytochemicals in apples are quercetin, epicatechin, and procyanidin B2 (PMID 14558772).
The seeds are mildly poisonous, containing a small amount of amygdalin, a cyanogenic glycoside, but a large amount would need to be chewed to have any toxic effect.[2]
Pesticide contamination is linked to an increasing number of diseases, and they are mostly found on the outside of fruits and vegetables. Washing or peeling before eating may reduce pesticide intake[3] but peeling will also reduce the intake of the beneficial nutrients.
Apple consumption can help remove trapped food and clean between the teeth, but the malic acid contained within the fruit is also capable of eroding tooth enamel over time, and through excess consumption.
Cultural aspects
Apples as symbols
Apples appear in many religious traditions, often as a mystical and forbidden fruit. Though the forbidden fruit in the book of Genesis is not identified, popular European Christian tradition has held that it was an apple that Eve coaxed Adam to share with her. As a result, in the story of Adam and Eve the apple became a symbol for temptation, the fall of man into sin, and sin itself. In Latin, the words for 'apple' and for 'evil' are similar in the singular (malus — apple, malum — evil) and identical in the plural (mala). This may be the reason that the apple was interpreted as the biblical 'forbidden fruit'. The larynx in the human throat has been called Adam's apple because of a notion that it was caused by the forbidden fruit sticking in the throat of Adam.
In this painting modern interpreters have viewed the apple alternately as an ironic twist on Christian symbology intended by the painter as a sexual innuendo between two men [1], or as a memento mori [2].
Crispin van den Broeck (Dutch), ca. 1590; Oil on panel; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
This notion of the apple as a symbol of sin is reflected in artistic renderings of the fall from Eden. When held in Adam's hand, the apple symbolises sin. However, when Christ is portrayed holding an apple, he represents the Second Adam who brings life. This also reflects the evolution of the symbol in Christianity. In the Old Testament the apple was significant of the fall of man; in the New Testament it is an emblem of the redemption from that fall, and as such is also represented in pictures of the Madonna and Infant Jesus.
There are several instances in the Old Testament where the apple is used in a more favourable light. The phrase 'the apple of your eye' comes from verses in Deuteronomy 32:10, Psalm 17:8 Proverbs 7:2, and Zechariah 2:8 implying an object or person greatly valued. In Proverbs 25:11, the verse states, "a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver". In the love songs of the Song of Solomon, the apple is used in a sensual context. I n these latter instances the apple is used as a symbol for beauty. The apple appears again in Joel 1:12 in a verse with a sense of profound loss when the apple tree withers.
At times artists would co-opt the apple, as well as other religious symbology, whether for ironic effect or as a stock element of symbolic vocabulary. Thus, secular art as well made use of the apple as symbol of love and sexuality. It is often an attribute associated with Venus who is shown holding it.
Apples in mythology
A classic depiction of the biblical tale showcasing the apple as a symbol of sin.
Albrecht Dürer, 1507; Oil on panel; 209 x 81 cm (per panel); Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid.[3].
The Greek hero Heracles, as a part of his Twelve Labours, was required to travel to the Garden of the Hesperides and pick the golden apples off the Tree of Life growing at its center.
The Greek goddess of discord, Eris, became disgruntled after she was excluded from the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. In retaliation, she tossed a golden apple inscribed Kallisti ('For the most beautiful one'), into the wedding party. Three goddesses claimed the apple: Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Paris of Troy was appointed to select the recipient. After being bribed by both Hera and Athena, Aphrodite tempted him with the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta. He awarded the apple to Aphrodite, thus indirectly causing the Trojan War.
Atalanta, also of Greek mythology, raced all her suitors in an attempt to avoid marriage. She outran all but Hippomenes, who defeated her by cunning, not speed. Hippomenes knew that he could not win in a fair race, so he used three golden apples to distract Atalanta. It took all three apples and all of his speed, but Hippomenes was finally successful, winning the race and Atalanta's hand.
In Norse mythology, the goddess Iðunn was the appointed keeper of apples that kept the Æsir young forever. Iðunn was abducted by Þjazi the giant, who used Loki to lure Iðunn and her apples out of Ásgarðr. The Æsir began to age without Iðunn's apples, so they coerced Loki into rescuing her. After borrowing Freyja's falcon skin, Loki liberated Iðunn from Þjazi by transforming her into a nut for the flight back. Þjazi gave chase in the form of an eagle, where upon reaching Ásgarðr he was set aflame by a bonfire lit by the Æsir. With the return of Iðunn's apples, the Æsir regained their lost youth.
Celtic mythology includes a story about Conle who receives an apple which feeds him for a year but also gives him an irresistible desire for Fairyland.Template:Fact
Legends, folklore, and traditions
- Since 1990, Apple Day has been held across the UK and beyond, on October 21
- Swiss folklore holds that William Tell courageously shot an apple from his son's head with his crossbow, defying a tyrannical ruler and bringing freedom to his people.
- Irish folklore claims that if an apple is peeled into one continuous ribbon and thrown behind a woman's shoulder, it will land in the shape of the future husband's initials.
- Danish folklore says that apples wither around adulterers.Template:Fact
- Apples are said to increase a woman's chances of conception as well as remove birthmarks when rubbed on the skin.Template:Fact
- According to a popular legend, Isaac Newton, upon witnessing an apple fall from its tree, was inspired to conclude that a similar 'universal gravitation' attracted the moon toward the Earth as well (this legend is discussed in more detail in the article on Isaac Newton).
- In the European fairy tale Snow White, the princess is killed, or sunk into a kind of coma with the appearance of death, by choking on a poisoned apple given to her by her stepmother. Later, the princess is jostled into coughing up the piece, miraculously returning her to life.
- In Arthurian legend, the mythical isle of Avalon's name is believed to mean 'isle of apples'.
- In some places, bobbing for apples is a traditional Halloween activity.[4]
- In the United States, Denmark and Sweden, an apple (polished) is a traditional gift for a teacher. This stemmed from the fact that teachers during the 16th to 18th centuries were poorly paid, so parents would compensate the teacher by providing food. As apples were a very common crop, teachers would often be given baskets of apples by students. As wages increased, the quantity of apples was toned down to a single fruit.
- The Apple Wassail is a traditional form of wassailing practiced in cider orchards of South West England during the winter. The ceremony is said to 'bless' the apple trees to produce a good crop in the forthcoming season.
- In Ancient Greece, a man throwing an apple to a woman was a proposal of marriage. Catching it meant she accepted Template:Fact.
Apple facts
- The ancient Kazakh city of Almaty, 'Father of Apples' (Turkic language alma, apple, + ata, father), owes its name to the forests of wild apples (Malus sieversii) found naturally in the area.
- The apple blossom is the state flower of Arkansas and Michigan.
- The Norwegian municipality of Leikanger has apples in its coat-of-arms.
- The name of the Russian party Yabloko means 'apple'. Its logo represents an apple in the constructivist style.
- Apple Corps (including Apple Records) and Apple Inc. have also adopted the apple as logos for their companies.
- The 'fruit-bearing tree' referred to by Tacitus in his description of Norse runic divination may have been the apple.
- Johnny Appleseed was an American pioneer orchardist; he earned his name by planting apple trees across large swaths of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
- One of the youngest apple varieties is Aurora Golden Gala (2003),[5] a sweet yellow Canadian apple; while one of the oldest apples in the United States may be the Roxbury Russet (1640).[6]
- There is a small amount of cyanide in apple seeds
- Cary Fowler, executive secretary of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, said in a statement:
- "At the end of the 1800s, 7,000 named apple varieties were grown in the United States. Now, 6,800 of those are as extinct as the dinosaurs."[7]
Apples as food
Different cultivars of apples have a distinct different taste, and this can be separated into two separate factors of flavour and texture.
See also
References
- ↑ Information about cancer, from Stanford comprehensive cancer center.
- ↑ "Raw Food Toxins". Retrieved on 2006-09-16.
- ↑ "Friends of the Earth: Press Releases: Toddlers Exposed to Daily Pesticide Threat". Retrieved on 2006-09-16.
- ↑ History and customs of Halloween
- ↑ "AAFC Online — Newsroom — News Releases". Retrieved on 2006-09-16.
- ↑ "Beardsley's Cider Mill". Retrieved on 2006-09-16.
- ↑ "Work on biodiversity 'doomsday vault' begins in the Arctic". Retrieved on 2006-09-16.
External links
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ssociation Guide] with some years and places of cultivar origins