Apple Facts
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Nutritional Information
Apples are high in dietary fibre, a source of vitamin C, and sodium free.
One medium apple (160g serving) contains:
Apples are best stored in your refrigerator! They will keep for up to three weeks.
Johnny Appleseed
Apple trees were grown and prized for their fruit by the people of ancient Rome. It is believed that the Romans took cultivated apples with them into England when they conquered the country. Apple growing became common in England and many other parts of Europe.
Both the seeds of apples and the trees themselves were brought to America from England, probably in 1629. John Endicott, one of the early governors of Massachusetts Bay Colony, is said to have brought the first trees to America. The cultivated varieties of apples gradually spread westward from the Atlantic Coast. John Chapman is said to have helped spread apple growing in America. He carried apple seeds with him wherever he went, and planted them in thinly settled parts of the country. For this reason, he became known as "Johnny Appleseed".
How Apples are Grown
A seed from an apple will usually grow into a tree if it is planted under satisfactory conditions. After a number of years the seeding tree will bear apples of its own. Generally these apples will be smaller and poorer than the apple from which the seed was taken. They may also be different in other ways from all other varieties of cultivated apples. For these reasons new apple trees are usually grown from buds. These buds are cut from a healthy apple tree, which bears plenty of good apples of the kind the farmer wants. The buds are made to grow on strong roots of other apple trees by the process called budding. Budding is a kind of grafting. The apples these trees bear will be like the apples of the tree from which the twigs were cut. Budding permits the fruit grower to have as many trees as he wishes, all bearing exactly the same variety of apples.
Once in a while, however, it happens that an apple tree grown from seed is better than the parent tree in some important way. When such a superior apple seedling is found, it may become the parent tree for a valuable new apple variety. Many of the thousands of varieties of cultivated apples began in this way.
Apple trees in orchards are usually planted in rows 9 to 13 feet apart with the trees spaced 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 feet apart. This spacing leaves room to spray and cultivate the orchards, and to harvest the fruit conveniently even after the trees have grown to full size. The trees should be pruned from time to time so that they will develop a rounded shape with branches fairly close to the ground. Apple trees that are properly cared for will bear good crops for a long time. Many orchards remain in fine condition for thirty years or more.
Why Apples are Waxed
Nature protects most plants, flowers, and fruits with a shield of natural wax. The layer of wax keeps in their supply of moisture and prevents damage to young plants from the sun’s rays.
The first man-made application of wax to fresh fruits and vegetables occurred on citrus, but the Chinese were experimenting with waxing processes as far back as the 12th century. The waxing process was invented in 1922 by a man named Brodgon, who later created Brogdex Co., in Pomona, California, now one of several firms providing natural source based waxes.
As it matures on the tree, an apple develops a coating of natural plant wax that has a protective function, mainly to minimize the loss of moisture and protect against decay organisms. While there is a cosmetic benefit, the principal function of the wax is to slow dehydration of the fruit. Many fruits are composed of 85 to 95 percent water. On the tree, the apple picks up dust and dirt, so the first step before packaging is a thorough washing on the packaging line. The washing process includes soaking in water, scrubbing with soap and finally a thorough water rinse. This process removes some of the natural protective wax from the fruit so natural source wax is applied to restore nature’s own coating to the washed fruit. Without a coating, the fruit will quickly become soft, lose some of its juice content, and become unattractive. The amount of wax needed is small. One gallon of wax will polish and protect five to eight tons of apples!
There is no need to remove the wax from the skin before eating the fresh fruit or using it in recipes since the wax is an edible, natural source material but if you wish to avoid eating it, peel the fruit.
In addition to most apples – citrus, rutabagas, cucumbers, many tomatoes, melons, and sweet potatoes are waxed. Chocolate, candy, and pharmaceutical industries also utilize edible wax as protective coatings.
All waxes on edible products must be approved by, in Canada, Agri-Food Canada, and in the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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