Apple

Apple
	A typical apple
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Subfamily:	Maloideae
Genus:	Malus
Species:	M. domestica
Binomial name
	Malus domestica; Borkh.

This page is about the fruit. For the company that makes computers and mobile devices, see Apple Inc.. For other uses, see Apple (disambiguation).

The apple is a fleshy fruit from the apple tree. It is in the species Malus domestica in the rose family Rosaceae. The apple is one of the most grown tree fruits. It is grown in orchards.

The apple tree came from Central Asia. Its wild ancestor is still there today. There are more than 7 493 kinds of different apple trees.^[2]

At least 55 million tons of apples were grown around in the world in 2005. All together, they cost about $10 billion. China produced about 35% of the world's apples.^[3] The United States produces more than 7.5% of the apples around the world. This makes it the second greatest producer. Iran is third, after which comes Turkey, Russia, Italy and India.

Botanical information[change | change source]

The apple has a small, leaf-shedding tree that grows up to 3 to 12 metres (9.8 to 39 ft) tall. The apple tree has a broad crown with thick twigs. The leaves are alternately arranged simple ovals. They are 5 to 12 centimetres long and 3–6 centimetres (1.2–2.4 in) wide. It has a sharp top with a soft underside. Blossoms come out in spring at the same time that the leaves begin to bud. The flowers are white. They also have a slightly pink color. They are five petaled, and 2.5 to 3.5 centimetres (0.98 to 1.4 in) in diameter. The fruit matures in autumn. It is usually 5 to 9 centimetres (2.0 to 3.5 in) in diameter. There are five carpels arranged in a star in the middle of the fruit. Every carpel has one to three seeds.

Wild Malus sieversii apple in Kazakhstan

Wild ancestors[change | change source]

The wild ancestors of Malus domestica are Malus sieversii. They grow wild in the mountains of Central Asia in the south of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Xinjiang, China,^[4] and possibly also Malus sylvestris.^[5] Unlike domesticated apples, their leaves become red in autumn.^[6] They are being used recently to develop Malus domestica to grow in colder climates.^[7]

History[change | change source]

The apple tree was possibly the earliest tree to be cultivated.^[8] Its fruits have become better over thousands of years. It is said that Alexander the Great discovered dwarfed apples in Asia Minor in 300 BCE. Asia and Europe have used winter apples as an important food for thousands of years. From when Europeans arrived, Argentina and the United States have used apples as food as well.^[8] Apples were brought to North America in the 1600s. The first apple orchard on the North American continent was said to be near Boston in 1625. In the 1900s, costly fruit industries, where the apple was a very important species, began developing.^[7]

In culture[change | change source]

Germanic paganism[change | change source]

"Brita as Iduna" (1901) by Carl Larsson

In Norse mythology, the goddess Iðunn gives apples to the gods in Prose Edda (written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson) that makes them young forever. English scholar H. R. Ellis Davidson suggests that apples were related to religious practices in Germanic paganism. It was from there, she claims, that Norse paganism developed. She points out that buckets of apples were discovered in the place of burial for the Oseberg ship in Norway. She also remarks that fruit and nuts (Iðunn having been described as changing into a nut in Skáldskaparmál) have been discovered in the early graves of the Germanic peoples in England. They have also been discovered somewhere else on the continent of Europe. She suggests that this may have had a symbolic meaning. Nuts are still a symbol of fertility in Southwest England.

Sometimes apples are eaten after they are cooked. Often apples are eaten uncooked. Apples can also be made into drinks. Apple juice and apple cider are apple drinks.

The flesh of the fruit is firm with a taste anywhere from sour to sweet. Apples used for cooking are sour, and need to be cooked with sugar, while other apples are sweet, and do not need cooking. There are some seeds at the core, that can be removed with a tool that removes the core, or by carefully using a knife.

The scientific name of the apple tree genus in the Latin language is Malus. Most apples that people grow are of the Malus domestica species.

Most apples are good to eat raw (not cooked), and are also used in many kinds of baked foods, such as apple pie. Apples are cooked until they are soft to make apple sauce.

Apples are also made into the drinks apple juice and cider. Usually, cider contains a little alcohol, about as much as beer. The regions of Brittany in France and Cornwall in England are known for their apple ciders.

If one wants to grow a certain type of apple it is not possible to do this by planting a seed from the wanted type. The seed will have DNA from the apple that the seeds came from, but it will also have DNA from the apple flower that pollinated the seeds, which may well be a different type. This means that the tree which would grow from planting would be a mixture of two. In order to grow a certain type of apple, a small twig, or 'scion', is cut from the tree that grows the type of apple desired, and then added on to a specially grown stump called a rootstock. The tree that grows will only create apples of the type needed.

Apple cultivars[change | change source]

There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples.^[9] Different cultivars are available for temperate and subtropical climates. One large collection of over 2,100 ^[10] apple cultivars is at the National Fruit Collection in England. Most of these cultivars are grown for eating fresh (dessert apples). However, some are grown simply for cooking or making cider. Cider apples are usually too tart to eat immediately. However, they give cider a rich flavor that dessert apples cannot.^[11]

Most popular apple cultivars are soft but crisp. Colorful skin, easy shipping, disease resistance, 'Red Delicious' apple shape, and popular flavor are also needed.^[2] Modern apples are usually sweeter than older cultivars. This is because popular tastes in apples have become different. Most North Americans and Europeans enjoy sweet apples.^[12] Extremely sweet apples with hardly any acid taste are popular in Asia^[12] and India.^[11]

In the United Kingdom[change | change source]

In the United Kingdom there are about 3000 different types of apples. The most common apple type grown in England is the 'Bramley seedling', which is a popular cooking apple.

Apple orchards are not as common as they were in the early 1900s, when apples were rarely brought in from other countries. Organizations such as Common Ground teach people about the importance of rare and local varieties of fruit. 'Apple Day' is celebrated each October 21 in many countries.

In North America[change | change source]

Many apples are grown in temperate parts of the United States and Canada. In many areas where apple growing is important, people have huge celebrations:

Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival - held five days every spring (May-June) in Nova Scotia
Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival - held six days every spring in Winchester, Virginia.
Washington State Apple Blossom Festival - held two weeks every spring (April-May) in Wenatchee, Washington

Varieties of apples[change | change source]

A Golden Delicious apple.

There are lots of different varieties of apples, including:

Fuji (apple)
Gala
Golden Delicious (some times called a Green Delicious Apple)
Granny Smith
Jonagold
McIntosh
Pink Lady
Red Delicious
Winesap
Cox's Orange Pippin

Family[change | change source]

Apples are in the group Maloideae. It is a subfamily of the family Rosaceae. They are in the same subfamily as pears. Its family is the family of rose like plants, and roses are in the family.

References[change | change source]

↑ Potter, D.; Eriksson, T.; Evans, R.C.; Oh, S.H.; Smedmark, J.E.E.; Morgan, D.R.; Kerr, M.; Robertson, K.R.; Arsenault, M.P.; Dickinson, T.A.; Campbell, C.S. (2007). Phylogeny and classification of Rosaceae. Plant Systematics and Evolution. 266(1–2): 5–43.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 "Apple - Malus domestica". Natural England. http://www.plantpress.com/wildlife/o523-apple.php. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
↑ "Apple". Jinxiang High Garlics Co., Ltd. http://www.higarlics.com/newEbiz1/EbizPortalFG/portal/html/ProgramShow3.html?ProgramShow_ProgramID=c373e9167239ed628ffe0a538dcfe845. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
↑ Lauri, Pierre-éric; Karen Maguylo, Catherine Trottier (2006). "Architecture and size relations: an essay on the apple (Malus x domestica, Rosaceae) tree". American Journal of Botany (Botanical Society of America, Inc.) (93): 357–368.
↑ Coart, E., Van Glabeke, S., De Loose, M., Larsen, A.S., Roldán-Ruiz, I. 2006. Chloroplast diversity in the genus Malus: new insights into the relationship between the European wild apple (Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill.) and the domesticated apple (Malus domestica Borkh.). Mol. Ecol. 15(8): 2171-82.
↑ Archetti M. (2009). Evidence from the domestication of apple for the maintenance of autumn colours by coevolution. Proc Biol Sci. 276(1667):2575-80. PMID 19369261
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 Sauer, Jonathan D. (1993). Historical Geography of Crop Plants: A Select Roster. CRC Press. pp. 109. ISBN 0849389011 .
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 "An apple a day keeps the doctor away". vegparadise.com. http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch39.html. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
↑ Elzebroek, A.T.G.; Wind, K. (2008). Guide to Cultivated Plants. Wallingford: CAB International. p. 27. ISBN 1845933567 . http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YvU1XnUVxFQC&lpg=PT39&dq=apple%20cultivars%207%2C500&pg=PT39#v=onepage&q=&f=false.
↑ "Taking care of the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale, Faversham". fastltd.co.uk. http://www.fastltd.co.uk/NationalFruitCollection.html. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
↑ ^11.0 ^11.1 Sue Tarjan (fall 2006). "Autumn Apple Musings" (pdf). News & Notes of the UCSC Farm & Garden, Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems. pp. 1–2. http://casfs.ucsc.edu/publications/news%20and%20notes/Fall_06_N&N.pdf. Retrieved 24 January 2008.
↑ ^12.0 ^12.1 "World apple situation". http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp2/circular/1998/98-03/applefea.html. Retrieved 24 January 2008.