6 Juicy FACTS ABOUT APPLES!
Cultivated around the world for
over 2,000 years, apples are the deliciously crunchy fruit of the apple tree.
From
the moment they were first discovered they’ve been enjoyed by people every day
in an amazingly large variety of forms.
What
is it about apples though, that has led to their almost legendary status in the
fruit bowl?
Let’s
take a bite into some of the juiciest facts about apples.
#1.An apple a
day keeps the doctor away.
We’ve all heard the age old
English proverb, but did you know that there’s actually quite a bit of truth to
it?
There
are a large number of health benefits which can be obtained from apples.
The
acids found in apples help fight against gout and indigestion. These acids also
help the fruit become digested faster, as well as assisting in digesting any
other food you may eat at the same time.
Another
form of apple homeopathy is to eat a ripe sour apple just before going to bed
to cure constipation.
#2.Apples are
things of myths and legends.
Apples have been around for so
long that many cultures in Europe have their own myths and legends involving
them.
In
the epic Greek poem the Iliad, a golden apple plays a key role in a series of
events which eventually led to the downfall of Troy.
In
Norse mythology the goddess of youth, Idun, gave golden apples to the gods to
keep them youthful until the end of the world.
#3.If you
plant the seeds from an apple, it will grow into a new variety.
Apples have a genetic
characteristic called heterozygosity, which means that any new tree grown from
the seeds of an apple will grow into a new variety.
As
a direct result of this there are now thousands of known varieties of apples
today.
While this is great in terms of the
species’ evolution and its ability to adapt and survive to new environments, it
does make apple cultivation much more difficult.
#4.There are thousands of varieties of apples.
There are more
than 7,500 known varieties of apples, and that’s just counting the ones we
bother examining. These varieties fall into three general categories: cider,
cooking, and dessert.
The
apples are categorized mainly on aspects such as size, color, crispiness, aroma
and taste, as well as bitterness.
#5.Apples
originally came from Kazakhstan.
Most of you may know Kazakhstan
thanks to the hit 2006 mockumentary Borat.
Something
that Borat fails to mention, however, is that Kazakhstan is actually the
original source of apples.
DNA
analysis of modern varieties of apples has found that they originate from a
wild variety known as Malus sieversii, which can still be found thriving in the
mountains of Kazakhstan.
#6.Over 66
million tons of apples are produced every year.
Across the globe there are more
than 66 million tons of apples produced annually.
The
largest producer of apples by a vast majority is China, with a whopping 46
million tons.
The
USA, on the other hand is actually the third largest producer.
Tell us in comment box which fact was most surprising for you?
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