Yours Culinarily

An Apple a Day…

The apple as we know it is one of the first fruits to be cultivated. Apples account for

50% of the world's deciduous fruit tree production. Originally, a small, tart, wild

crabapple it thrived throughout Europe. After the fall of the Roman Empire apple

cultivation lapsed and the Arabs are credited with preserving the fruit.

Archeologists have found evidence that humans have been enjoying apples since at

least 6500 B.C. Since apples where so well known, the word apple was used as a point of reference to describe unknown fruits from the European Colonist who settled in America. Thus the misuse of the name began; for example, custard apple, rose apple, sugar apple, wood apple and of course the pineapple. China is the leading producer of apples.World's top apple

producers being China, United States, Turkey, Poland and Italy.

Apple trees take four to five years to produce their first fruit and can vary is size from a bit bigger than a cherry to larger then a grapefruit. Apples are fat, sodium, and cholesterol free and are about 80 calories with 5 grams of fiber. Don't peel your apple, two-thirds of the fiber and lots of antioxidants are found in the peel. Antioxidants help to reduce damage to cells, which can trigger some diseases.