Apples are the most important fruits, of the fall season:

21 Apples are the most important fruits, of the fall season:

Apples: a fruit, because it contains seeds, from the pink family. .

A syrup, called cedar, is squeezed from some apple varieties, and it is one of the most cultivated fruit trees.

The apple tree is small, ranging from 3 to 12 meters tall, and has a wide, leafy crown, dense with thorns.

Apple tree leaf, 5 to 12 cm long and 3 to 6 cm wide on stems, 2 to 5 cm long with a pointed tip, serrated margin, and smooth underside.

The apple tree's flowers are white, with a pink tinge, and fade gradually.

They have five petals, and their diameter is from 2.5 to 3.5 centimeters.

Apple fruits ripen in the fall, and the fruit is usually 5 to 9 centimeters in diameter.

The apple tree originated in Central Asia, and there are more than 7,500 trees that grow apples, resulting in apples possessing a range of desirable characteristics.

According to the 2005 census, at least 55 million tons of apples were grown around the world, with a value of about $10 billion.

China alone produced about 35% of this total.

The United States is the second major producer, with more than 7.5% of global production.

Turkey, France, Italy and Iran are also among the leading countries in exporting apples.

Types of apples:

There are several types of apple genus:

1- Domesticated apple, scientific name: Malus domestica.

2- Agbis apple, scientific name: Malus fusca.

3- Asian apple, scientific name: Malus asiatica.

4- Bhutan apple, scientific name: Malus bhutanica.

5- Apple apple, scientific name: Malus malus.

6- Mulberry apple, scientific name: Malus baccata.

7- Forest apple, scientific name: Malus sylvestris.

8- Peach-leaf apple, scientific name: Malus prunifolia.

9- Doumeri apple, scientific name: Malus doumeri.

10- Rocky apple, scientific name: Malus rockii.

11- Zumi apple, scientific name: Malus zumi.

12- Oriental apple, scientific name: Malus orientalis.

13- Dwarf apple, scientific name: Malus pumila.

14- Rain-loving apple, scientific name: Malus ombrophila.

15- Spectral apple, scientific name: Malus spectabilis.

16- Soft-cup apple, scientific name: Malus leiocalyca.

17- River apple, scientific name: Malus rivularis.

18- Holly apple, scientific name: Malus halliana.

19- Honan apple, scientific name: Malus honanensis

20- Intermediate apple, scientific name: Malus transitoria.

21- Wedge apple, scientific name: Malus cuneata.

22- Tree apple, scientific name: Malus frutescens.

23- Hard apple, scientific name: Malus robusta.

24- Polar leaf apple, scientific name: Malus arbutifolia

25- Multi-flowered apple, scientific name: Malus floribunda.

26- Many-seeded apple, scientific name: Malus granata.

Wild Malus sieversii apple, in Kazakhstan:

The wild ancestor of the tree species, Malus domestica, is the wild tree Malus sieversii, which is found in Central Asia in southern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, in addition to the Xinjiang region in China.

The tree, Malus sylvestris, could also be an ancestor of the apple tree.

History of apple cultivation:

The center of diversity of the Malus apple, genus is in eastern Türkiye.

The apple tree, was perhaps the first tree to be cultivated, and its fruit has been improved, through agricultural selection, over thousands of years.

Alexander the Great, is credited with finding dwarf apples in Asia Minor in 300 BC, and the apples, he brought with him to Macedonia, may have been the ancestor of dwarf root stock.

Winter apples, are picked in late fall, stored just above freezing, and have been an important food in Asia, and Europe for thousands of years, as well as in Argentina, and in the United States, since the arrival of Europeans.

Apples were transported to North America, with colonists in the sixteenth century, and it is said that the first apple orchard, on the North American continent, was near Boston in 1625.

In the twentieth century, irrigation projects began in Washington state, allowing the developmentm of a multi-billion fruit industry, of which apples were the leading species.

apples benefits:

Apples strengthen the brain, heart, and stomach, and are useful in treating joint pain, and palpitations.

They calm sneezing, stop vomiting, eliminate dyspnea, repair the liver, purify the blood of toxins, strengthen the heart muscle, and its seeds kill stomach worms.

Apples are rich in vitamins, A, B, and C, and contain sugars, protein, fatty and pectic substances, organic acids, and mineral salts such as potassium, calcium, sodium, and others, which are indispensable for nourishing and growing cells, strengthening bones, and regenerating nerve cells.

Apples are considered, an important source for ridding the body of toxins, and their juice kills viruses, bacteria, and microbes in the body.

Benefits of apples:

1- Strengthens the gums and teeth.

2- It helps people with rheumatism.

3- Helps digestion.

4- Prevents constipation.

5- It reduces cholesterol in the body.

6- Helps prevent acidity.

7- It is beneficial for pregnant women and fetuses, as it protects newborns from developing asthma.

8- It helps prevent the risk of cancer.

9-Useful in different diet systems.

10- Apples help moisturize and cleanse the skin.

11- It helps get rid of acne, skin blemishes, and dark spots.

12- Apples help tighten the skin and stimulate blood circulation on the surface of the skin.

13- Eating apples has a good effect on heart health, as apples have been linked to a decrease in heart health

Number of deaths, as a result of cardiovascular diseases.

14- It contains a high level of fiber, which removes toxins, fats, and toxic waste in the stomach and intestines.

15- Apples, like pears and grapes, reduce the risk of diabetes, because they contain a lot of antioxidants.

Apple cider vinegar:

Apple cider vinegar, produces apple cider vinegar:

This is done through fermentation of apples, where a type of fungus reacts with apple sugar, and with carbohydrate foods in general.

Through this reaction, the sugar turns into alcohol, then ferments into vinegar.

• There is another reaction, by a type of bacteria, in which alcohol is transformed into acetic acid, which is the basic component of vinegar, which gives it its therapeutic qualities.

Apple varieties:

There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples.

There are different cultivars, for temperate and subtropical climates.

First:

It is considered by some, to be the largest gathering of apple growers, in the National Fruit Gathering in England.

1- Some varieties of apples, are grown to be eaten fresh.

2- Others are specifically, for cooking,

3- A third type is grown to produce juice.

Although apples grown, for pressing are very tart and cannot be eaten fresh, they provide a drink, with a rich taste, which sweet apples do not provide.

Second:

The characteristics required, in commercially grown apples are:

Rich in color, easy to transport, long-lasting, and disease-resistant.

It has a typical apple shape, and has a long stem. And popular flavour.

Third:

Modern apples:

Modern apples, are generally sweeter than ancient cultivars, because the popular tastes of apples, have changed over time.

Most people in North America, and Europe prefer sweet apples, not acidic ones.

But tart apples have few devotees.

Very sweet apples ,with no tart taste, very popular in Asia and India.

Fourth:

Old varieties of apples:

They are often strange in shape, and varied in texture and color.

Some people find that old varieties, have a better flavor than modern ones, but old varieties may face, other problems that make them unable, to survive commercially, such as:

Low yield, ease of disease, or poor tolerance to transportation and storage.

Fifth:

There are many exotic, and locally important varieties, that have unique flavors and appearances.

Apple conservation campaigns, have begun around the world to preserve, these local varieties from extinction.

Sixth:

There are in Britain: old varieties such as:

Cox’s Orange Pippin, that still have commercial importance, even if they are low-yielding, and susceptible to diseases by modern standards.

Apple production:

In the wild, apples grow easily from seed.

However, like most perennial fruits, apples reproduce asexually through grafting.

Most new apple varieties arise as seedlings, either by chance, or by intentional mixing, of promising varieties.

The word 'seedling', 'pepin' or kernel, in an apple variety indicates, that it was raised as a seedling.

Apples can also form buds, like spikes on a single branch.

Some shoots turn into improved strains, of the original varieties.

Some shoots differ enough, from the parent tree that they, are considered new varieties.

Apple rootstock:

Rootstocks have been, used to control the size, of the apple tree for two thousand years.

The dwarf rootstock ,was probably discovered accidentally in Asia.

Alexander the Great sent specimens, of dwarf apple trees to his teacher Aristotle, in Greece.

These trees, have been preserved at Lykiam, an educational center in Greece.

The latest apple rootstock, bred in the twentieth century.

Much research, began on modern rootstocks, in a research center in Kent, England.

Following that research, the center worked, with the John Innes Institute, and Long Ashton, to produce a series of different rootstocks, capable of resisting diseases, of various sizes, which were then, used around the world.

Apples are a major tree in the food industry, because they are added, to many foods produced, in laboratories, as well as sweets, jams, and others.

The apple tree, needs an abundant amount, of water and fertilizer, and it is preferable to fertilize, it with organic fertilizer, to improve the soil , and improve production.

The process of inoculation of the taphage:

Apples are a self-confident plant, and their pollination must be mixed, to provide fruit during, flowering each season.

Apple growers usually, provide pollinators ,that will carry the pollen.

The use of honey bee hives, in this is the most common. Horticultural mason bees, are also used as supplemental pollinators, in commercial orchards.

Bumblebees are sometimes found in orchards, but their numbers, are not sufficient for bumblebees , to become important pollinators.

Maturity and harvest:

Varieties vary in their vigor, and the ultimate size of the tree, even when grown, on the same rootstock.

If left to stand, some varieties grow to very large sizes, allowing them to bear a greater number, of fruits, but harvesting them is difficult.

Mature trees usually, carry from 40 to 200 kilograms, of apples each year.

Productivity, though, can be close to zero in poor years.

The apples are harvested, using ladders designed, to fit into the spaces between the branches.

Dwarf trees bear, about 10-80 kilograms of fruit annually.

Storing apples:

1- Commercially, apples can be stored for a few months, in climate-controlled chambers, to delay ethylene-induced ripening.

2- Apples are usually stored, in rooms with higher concentrations of carbon dioxide, with high air filtration.

This prevents ethylene concentrations, from rising to higher concentrations, which delays ripening.

3- Ripening begins, when the fruit is removed.

4- For home storage, most apple varieties can be stored for about two weeks, when kept in the coldest part of the refrigerator, (i.e. less than 5 degrees Celsius).

Some types of apples, including Granny Smith and Fuji, have a longer shelf life.

Hussein Hassanein

Writer and researcher