Apple Facts that Might Surprise You

Summer’s over and one thing I’ve been waiting for has happened. Newly picked apples are appearing in roadside stands and in the produce section of the grocery store. I had my choice of tart granny smiths, handsome golden delicious and crisp galas last time I shopped.

In celebration of the apple, which Henry David Thoreau called the noblest of fruits, I’d like to share these thirteen facts.


1. Pomology is the study of apples.
2. Apples are originally from an area between the Caspian and the Black Sea in Asia. The crabapple is the only apple that is actually native to North America.
3. About 2,500 different varieties of apples are grown in the United States.
4. All fifty states in the U. S. grow apples, but the states that grow the most apples are: Washington, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California and Virginia.
5. It takes four or five years before an apple tree produces fruit.
6. According to the University of Illinois Extension’s Apple Facts, “It takes the energy of 50 leaves to produce one apple.”
7. What apple variety is grown the most in the United States? Red Delicious. In 2005 farmers harvested 62 million bushels.
8. An average apple is about 80 calories.
9. The U. S. Apple Association reports that, “In 2008, the average U.S. consumer ate an estimated 16.4 pounds of fresh-market apples and 33.3 pounds of processed apples, for a total of 49.8 pounds of fresh apples and processed apple products.”
10. An average apple has five grams of fiber pectin.
11. Fiber pectin can help lower LDL or bad cholesterol.
12. Apples really are good for you and they might even help you lose weight. Researchers at the University of Rio de Janeiro found that women who eat three apples or pears a day lost more weight than women who didn’t.
13. In addition to helping you lower your cholesterol and weight, scientists at Cornell University theorize that apples may inhibit the growth of colon, breast and liver cancer cells.
An apple a day really might keep the doctor away and all this blogging about apples has fired up my craving for the fruit. I’m going to grab one of the galas. I like them the best. Do like apples? What’s your favorite variety?

Sources
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/apples/facts.cfm
http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/25-quotes-about-apples.html
http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/10-health-benefits-of-apples.html
http://www.usapple.org/