Apples
rge if grown from seed. Generally, apple cultivars are propagated by grafting onto rootstocks, which
control the size of the resulting tree. There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples, resulting
in a range of desired characteristics. Different cultivars are bred for various tastes and use, including
cooking, eating raw and cider production. Trees and fruit are prone to a number of fungal, bacterial
and pest problems, which can be controlled by a number of organic and non-organic means. In 2010,
the fruit's genome was sequenced as part of research on disease control and selective breeding in
apple production.
Worldwide production of apples in 2017 was 83.1 million tonnes, with China accounting for half of
the
Description
Blossoms, fruits, and leaves of the apple tree (Malus domestica)
An apple's side, stem end, and interior
The apple is a deciduous tree, generally standing 6 to 15 ft (1.8 to 4.6 m) tall in cultivation
and up to 30 ft (9.1 m) in the wild. When cultivated, the size, shape and branch density are
determined by rootstock selection and trimming method. The leaves are alternately arranged
dark green-colored simple ovals with serrated margins and slightly downy undersides.[5]
Apple blossom
Blossoms are produced in spring simultaneously with the budding of the leaves and are
produced on spurs and some long shoots. The 3 to 4 cm (1.2 to 1.6 in) flowers are white with
a pink tinge that gradually fades, five petaled, with an inflorescence consisting of a cyme
with 4–6 flowers. The central flower of the inflorescence is called the "king bloom"; it opens
first and can develop a larger fruit.[5][6]
The fruit matures in late summer or autumn, and cultivars exist in a wide range of sizes.
Commercial growers aim to produce an apple that is 2 3⁄4 to 3 1⁄4 in (7.0 to 8.3 cm) in
diameter, due to market preference. Some consumers, especially those in Japan, prefer a
larger apple, while apples below 2 1⁄4 in (5.7 cm) are generally used for making juice and
have little fresh market value. The skin of ripe apples is generally red, yellow, green, pink, or
russetted, though many bi- or tri-colored cultivars may be found.[7] The skin may also be
wholly or partly russeted i.e. rough and brown. The skin is covered in a protective layer of
epicuticular wax.[8] The exocarp (flesh) is generally pale yellowish-white,[7] though pink or
yellow exocarps also occur.
Wild ancestors
Main article: Malus sieversii
The original wild ancestor of Malus domestica was Malus sieversii, found growing wild in
the mountains of Central Asia in southern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Xinjiang,
China.[5][9] Cultivation of the species, most likely beginning on the forested flanks of the Tian
Shan mountains, progressed over a long period of time and permitted secondary introgression
of genes from other species into the open-pollinated seeds. Significant exchange with Malus
sylvestris, the crabapple, resulted in current populations of apples being more related to
crabapples than to the more morphologically similar progenitor Malus sieversii. In strains
without recent admixture the contribution of the latter predominates.[10][11][12]
Genome
In 2010, an Italian-led consortium announced they had sequenced the complete genome of
the apple in collaboration with horticultural genomicists at Washington State University,[13]
using 'Golden Delicious'.[14] It had about 57,000 genes, the highest number of any plant
genome studied to date[15] and more genes than the human genome (about 30,000).[16] This
new understanding of the apple genome will help scientists identify genes and gene variants
that contribute to resistance to disease and drought, and other desirable characteristics.
Understanding the genes behind these characteristics will help scientists perform more
knowledgeable selective breeding. The genome sequence also provided proof that Malus
sieversii was the wild ancestor of the domestic apple—an issue that had been long-debated in
the scientific community.[13]
History
Wild Malus sieversii apple in Kazakhstan
"Wild Apples"
by Henry David Thoreau
Read by Kevin S for LibriVox
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Malus sieversii is recognized as a major progenitor species to the cultivated apple, and is
morphologically similar. Due to the genetic variability in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, this
region is generally considered the center of origin for apples.[17]
Humans have been eating apples for thousands of years. At the Sammardenchia-Cueis site
near Udine in Northeastern Italy, seeds from some form of apples have been found in
material carbon dated to around 4000 BCE.[18] Genetic analysis has not yet been successfully
used to determine whether such ancient apples were wild Malus Sylvestris or Malus
Domesticus containing Malus sieversii ancestry.[19] It is generally also hard to distinguish in
the archeological record between foraged wild apples and apple plantations.
There is indirect evidence of apple cultivation in the third millenium BCE in the Middle East.
There was substantial apple production in the European classical antiquity, and grafting was
certainly known then.[19] Grafting is an essential part of modern domesticated apple
production, to be able to propagate the best cultivars; it is unclear when apple tree grafting
was invented.[19]
Winter apples, picked in late autumn and stored just above freezing, have been an important
food in Asia and Europe for millennia.[20] Of the many Old World plants that the Spanish
introduced to Chiloé Archipelago in the 16th century, apple trees became particularly well
adapted.[21] Apples were introduced to North America by colonists in the 17th century,[5] and
the first apple orchard on the North American continent was planted in Boston by Reverend
William Blaxton in 1625.[22] The only apples native to North America are crab apples, which
were once called "common apples".[23] Apple cultivars brought as seed from Europe were
spread along Native American trade routes, as well as being cultivated on colonial farms. An
1845 United States apples nursery catalogue sold 350 of the "best" cultivars, showing the
proliferation of new North American cultivars by the early 19th century.[23] In the 20th
century, irrigation projects in Eastern Washington began and allowed the development of the
multibillion-dollar fruit industry, of which the apple is the leading product.[5]
