Apple

Red Delicious apples

The apple tree has its origin in Kazakhstan, but is now found in many regions with a temperate or subtropical climate. Most apples are produced in China. Other important apple producers include USA, Iran, Turkey, Russia, India, Italy and France.

Apples are usually eaten fresh but can be processed to make apple juice or other products. Apple juice can be used to produce Cider (apple wine).

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. That’s probably the reason that apples are such an important fruit in the world. In 2010 the estimated world production of Apples was 69,569,612 Metric Tons (source FAOSTAT), which corresponds to about 10 kg per person (in 2010 the world had about 6.9 billion persons).

Many fruits that are not real apples have a name that includes the word apple. For example pineapple, rose apple, sugar apple and custard apple should not be confused with the real apple (Malus domestica).

Names

Scientific
   Malus domestica
English
   Apple
Dutch
   Appel
Spanish
   Manzana
French
   Pomme
   Pommier commun
   Pommier domestique
German
   Apfel
   Kulturapfel
Italian
   Mela

Taxonomy

Genus
   Malus
Family
   Rosaceae
Order
   Rosales

Basic information and facts

Origin:

Apples originate from Kazakhstan.

Distribution:

Apples are now widely distributed in regions with a temperate or subtropical climate.

Top producers:

Most apples are produced in China. Other countries that produce a lot of apples include the USA, Iran, Turkey, Russia, Italy, India, France, Chile and Argentina.

Evergreen or deciduous:

Deciduous

Flowers:

Apple flowers have five petals and are 2.5 to 3.5 centimeters in diameter. The flowers are white and have initially a pink tinge, which later fades.

Leaves:

Apples have simple oval leaves which are 5 to 12 cm long and 3 to 6 cm broad. The petiole is 2 to 5 cm long.

Fruits:

Apple fruits mature in autumn. The fruits are round with a diamter of 5 to 9 centimeters. The center of the fruit contains five carpels which each contain one to three seeds. The seeds are called pips.

Climate and weather:

Temperate and subtropical climates.

Pollination:

Apples must cross-pollinate to develop fruit. Pollination is by insects such as honeybees and bumble bees.

Height:

The trees are 5 to 12 meter tall. New apple varieties are often shorter (dwarf varieties), around 1.5 to 2 meter tall, which is easier during harvesting.

Blooming period

Flowers in springtime at the same time when leaves are budding.

Type of soil:

Growth rate:

Spacing (close range)

Spacing (wide range)

Propagation:

Usually apple is propagated by grafting.

Insect pests:

Some common pests include aphids, Codling moth (Cydia pomonella), and Apple maggot (Rhagoletis pomonella)

Diseases:

Common diseases include Mildew and Apple scab.

Fruit development:

Harvesting:

Apples are harvested by hand picking when the fruits are ripe. If kept in a dark cool place, they can be stored for several weeks or even months.

Uses:

Apples are eaten fresh as a hand fruit or in fruit salads. They can also be mixed in vegetable salads. Apples are used as filling in cakes and pies, or used to make applesauce or apple juice.

Proverbs and Quotes

A bad tree does not yield good apples.
A pear tree cannot bear an apple.
A stone from the hand of a friend is an apple.
Adam ate the apple, and our teeth still ache.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
An apple never falls far from the tree.
An apple-pie without some cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze.
Apple blossoms are beautiful, but rice dumplings are better.
Better an apple pie than apple blossom.
Different men have different opinions; some prefer apples, some onions.
Don’t upset the apple cart.
For an apple and an egg.
Give an apple to the little ones, a book to the old.
Handsome apples are sometimes sour.
If the prince wants an apple, his servants take the tree.
If there is no apple one eats a little carrot.
If you want apples, you have to shake the trees.
Many a rose-cheeked apple is rotten at the core.
No apple tree is immune from worms.
One bad apple spoils the bunch.
One of the two partners always bites the best part of the apple.
One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel.
Small choice in rotten apples.
Sometimes it is better to give your apple away, than to eat it yourself.
The apple cannot be stuck back on the tree of knowledge.
The apple does not fall far from the tree.
The apple falls on the head that’s under it.
The nice apples are always eaten by nasty pigs.
The night may be dark, but the apples have been counted.
The old monkey gets the apple.
The rotten apple injures its neighbour.
There are many who throw stones at a red apple.
There’s no making apples of plums.
When the apple is ripe it will fall.
Who has tasted a sour apple, will have the more relish for a sweet one.
You are the apple of my eye.
You can count the apples on a tree but you can’t count the trees from one apple.
You can’t compare apples with pears.
Your neighbor’s apples are the sweetest.
Poor Richard was to me as an eldest son, the apple of my eye. (Sir Walter Scott, in Old Mortality, 1816)
He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. (Bible, Deuteronomy 32:10, King James Version)
For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. (Bible, Zechariah 2:8)
Flower of this purple dye, Hit with Cupid’s archery, Sink in apple of his eye (Shakespeare, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1590)
A goodly apple rotten at the heart: O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath. (Shakespeare)
An apple cleft in two is not more twin / Than these two creatures (Shakespeare)
Kent, sir—everybody knows Kent—apples, cherries, hops, and women. (Charles Dickens)
There’s small choice in rotten apples. (Shakespeare)
If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas. (George Bernard Shaw)
Anyone can count the number of seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed. (Robert H. Schuller)
There is nothing in the world more peaceful than apple-leaves with an early moon. (Alice Meynell)
“I hope I never smell the smell of apples again!” said Fili. “My tub was full of it. To smell apples everlastingly when you can scarcely move and are cold and sick with hunger is maddening. I could eat anything in the wide world now, for hours on end – but not an apple!”
(The Hobbit – Chapter 10 – A warm welcome. J.R.R. Tolkien)

Did you know that?

The “forbidden fruit” (the fruit that came from the tree of knowledge) is often depicted as an apple. It is however not sure that it really was an apple. The Latin word “malum” means both “apple” and “evil.” In the bible the tree is mentioned as “de ligno autem scientiae boni et mali“, so clearly it means here “the tree of knowledge of good and evil” and the word “mali” here is not meant to be an apple.
Snow white’s apple was only half poisoned (the red side).
The Island of Avalon literally means “Apple Island”.
“Big Apple” is the nickname for New York City (“Big Mango” is Bangkok)
The “rainbow Apple” is the logo of Apple Inc., a company that produces computer software, personal computers, and other consumer electronics.
Apple is the national fruit of England.
It is believed that Isaac Newton’s developed his theory of gravitation after he saw an apple falling from a tree.

Recipes

Fried apple slices

Ingredients:
Apples (sour hard apples are best), margarine or butter, sugar

Instructions:
Peel the apples and remove the core. Slice them. Fry the slices in a
bit of butter or margarine on low fire until soft and golden brown.
Serve with bread. Add sugar if desired.

Apple with Cabbage

Ingredients:
2 apples, 1 medium onion, 1/4 medium cabbage, olive oil, salt and pepper

Instructions:
Slice the apples length-wise, then quartered. Slice the cabbage, not thin, not thick. Dice up the onion. Heat pan to medium high with olive oil. First sautee the onion, then add the plantain till it is golden brown. Then add the cabbage and apple and salt and pepper to taste. Stir fry till done.

Crop categories

Fruits
Food crops
Temperate crops
Alcoholic drinks

Pictures