9 interesting facts about apples

9 interesting facts about apples

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Planted around the world for more than 2,000 years, apples are the delicious crispy fruit of the apple tree.

Since the moment they were first discovered, they have been enjoyed by everyone every day in amazingly different forms.

However, what is it about apples that have led to their almost legendary status in the fruit basket?

Let's take a look at some of the coolest facts about apples.

One apple a day, the doctor doesn't come home.

We've all heard the old British adage, but did you know that there is actually quite a lot of truth about it?

There is a huge amount of health benefits that can be obtained from apples.

The acids in apples help fight gout and indigestion.

Another homeopathic form of apples is to eat a ripe sour apple just before bed to treat constipation.

This actually leads to another old saying - Eating an apple at bedtime will make the doctor ask for bread!

Eve picked a forbidden fruit, but it was not an apple.

Believe it or not, it was really not the apple that Eve picked from the Tree of Knowledge in the Book of Genesis of the Old Testament.

In the original story, the fruit Eve picked is not really made clear, and is only called the fruit.

There have been several hints over the centuries about this fruit, from figs to olives, grapes to bananas.

It was not until about the 12th century that apples began to be called forbidden fruit.

The apple is a thing of myths and legends.

Apples have been around for so long that many cultures in Europe have myths and legends regarding them.

In the Greek epic Iliad, a golden apple plays a key role in a series of events that led to the fall of Troy.

In Norse mythology, the goddess of youth, Idun, gave golden apples to the gods to keep them young until the end of the world.

There is a myth regarding this when Loki, a deceitful god, kidnaps Idun and the rest of them begin to age rapidly.

If you plant the seed from an apple, it will grow into a new variety.

Apples have a genetic trait called heterozygotes, meaning that any new plants grown from the apple's seeds will develop into a new variety.

As a direct result of this, there are thousands of known apple varieties today.

While this is great in terms of species evolution and its ability to adapt and survive in new environments, it makes growing apples much more difficult.

Instead of planting new apple trees with seeds, a technique called grafting is needed.

If done successfully, the new grafted seedling will then develop the desired apples.

There are thousands of varieties of apples.

There are over 7,500 known varieties of apple and that's just counting the ones that we bother to test.

These categories fall into three general categories: cider, cooking and dessert.

Apples are classified primarily based on aspects such as size, color, crunch, aroma and taste, as well as bitterness.

The more bitter apple is used for cider, and is nearly inedible.

Apple desserts, such as the apples used in apple pies, are often enjoyed fresh and raw.

Apples are native to Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan is most likely known by the 2006 fantasy Borat.

One thing that Borat didn't mention, however, is that Kazakhstan is actually the origin of the apple.

DNA analysis of modern apple varieties has found that they are derived from a wild apple variety called Malus sieversii, which can still be found thriving in the mountains of Kazakhstan.

More than 66 million tons of apples are produced each year.

Globally more than 66 million tons of apples are produced annually.

The largest producer of the majority of apples is China, with a whopping 46 million tons.

On the other hand, the United States is actually the third largest producer.

Of the US apples produced, only half is consumed fresh.

However, apple trees in Europe have a greater proportion of fruit geared towards the production of cider.

Cider has been aged for more than 2,000 years.

Around 55 BC when the Romans invaded England, they discovered that cider production was well underway and enjoyed by the locals for a while.

This means that apples migrate all the way from Kazakhstan to England, about 3,000 miles (5,000 km), before fermentation and distillation techniques can be completed.

This method has been honed for many years and by the end of the 1500s more than 65 different varieties of apples were grown specifically for cider production.

There is an American folk hero named Johnny Appleseed, who spread apples across America.

John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed, is said to believe that the method of growing apples by grafting is evil.

He is absolutely certain that the only way to grow good apples is to sow them with seeds.

The story goes that he collects seeds from cider factories in Pennsylvania and conducts the apple seed distribution and sowing throughout large parts of the United States.

However, the apples grown from these seeds are not good to eat, just for making wine.

So the next time you enjoy a class of crunchy cider, say cheers for Johnny Appleseed!

Apples have been enjoyed in many forms for millennia.

You can grill them, juice them, ferment them or even just eat them right on the plant.

As some of the oldest grown fruits in the world, they are probably one of the most amazing and will definitely be enjoyed for a long time to come!