The Apple: A Brief History

"As American as apple pie" is common saying most of us have used at some point in our lives, which might lead us to believe this important fruit is indigenous to our hemisphere. Indeed, there is not a state in the Union which does not produce apples, and Americans each consume about 42 pounds of apples annually. While apples certainly are common here, the fact is this delightful fruit actually is an immigrant, and can be found in temperate regions throughout the world. How the apple became so common in our homeland to make it synonymous with America is an interesting story.

Apple is our most beloved fruit and has been since ancient times. The word "fruit" comes from the Latin word fruor which means "I delight in" and gives us an indication of how highly fruit has been regarded throughout history. From the beginning of recorded history, apples have been associated with love, health, beauty, comfort, pleasure, wisdom, virility and fertility. For example, in Greek mythology Zeus and his new bride, Hera, were presented a tree with golden apples by Gaia, or Mother Earth. The association of apples with many other tales of mythology, from the abduction of Helen of Troy to awarding of a golden apple to Aphrodite for winning what might have been the first beauty contest, illustrate the importance ancients placed on this special food.

The association of apple with the biblical account of the temptation of Adam and Eve can be traced to a 15th century painting by Van Der Goes titled "The Fall of Man" in which leaves and fruit of the tree are clearly depicted. Thereafter artists everywhere chose apple as the "forbidden fruit" of the Garden of Eden.

Apple belongs to the genus Malus and is a member of the Rosaceae family. There are many different species of apples and crab apples but the one we commonly eat carries the scientific name Malus pumila. Apple is one of the most ancient of fruit and probably originated somewhere in southeast Asia in the Caspian to Black Sea region. Archeological evidence shows that apple was used as a food source by Stone Age lake dwellers of central Europe. This evidence points to the fact that apples were eaten fresh as well as cut, dried and stored for future consumption by these ancient people.

Cultivation of apple is as old as agriculture itself. Ancient records found in Mesopotamia dating back to the 15th century B.C. verify the sale of an apple orchard for the grand sum of three prized sheep. Theophrastus, a Greek writer, mentioned several cultivars of apples were grown in ancient Greece in the 4th century B.C. and discussed why grafting, budding and tree care were required for maximum production. The Roman poet Horace in the 1^st century B.C. described the perfect meal as one that begins with eggs and ends with apples. The Romans quickly adopted the production techniques of the Greeks and Persians and helped to spread apples as the Roman Empire enlarged.

The apple continued to gain importance over time and was central and northern Europe’s most important cultivated fruit when America was discovered. It is not surprising, therefore, that apples were taken to America by the early Colonists and others when migrating to what is now the United States. The English introduced apples to Virginia and New England, the Dutch to New York and the French to Canada.

Apples quickly spread across our country as European immigrants moved from East to West and, in some cases, even faster. Native Americans were quick to recognize the virtues of apples and planted them around their villages. This spread was helped significantly by an itinerant missionary by the name of John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) who made his way through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa preaching the gospel and planting apple trees.

Today, about 2500 cultivars of apples are grown in the United States and 7500 worldwide. They range in size from only a bit larger than a cherry to as large as a grapefruit. Apples are grown in all 50 states and commercially produced in 36 states. Washington, New York, Michigan, California, Pennsylvania and Virginia produce over 83 percent of our nation’s annual 234 million bushel apple crop valued at over $1.5 billion. China is the leading producer of apples and harvests about 1.2 billion bushels annually.

Although apple improvement through convention breeding techniques was practiced as early as the 19th century, for years most new apple cultivars introduced to the public were clonal selections of chance mutations. This simply means that when someone saw an apple with improved characteristics over those in existence they vegetatively propagated that mutation to form a new cultivar. For example, ‘Red Delicious’ (the most widely grown cultivar in the United States) was found by Jesse Hiatt growing as a chance seedling in a fence row in Iowa in 1868. Legend has it that Mr. Hiatt tried to kill this seedling and, after several failed attempts, decided to save it. Years later, he entered fruit from the (then) tree in an apple competition in Louisiana, Missouri and won first prize. The rest, as they say, is history. ‘Golden Delicious’ apple was discovered in a similar "accidental" way in 1914.

Today, apple improvement is accomplished primarily through controlled matings between different cultivars followed by controlled selection of their offspring for traits of economic importance (e.g., disease resistance, fruit quality or chilling requirement). These efforts have given rise to "newer" cultivars such as ‘Empire’, ‘Gala’ and ‘Liberty.’

Apples are fat, cholesterol and sodium free and contain only about 80 calories each. They are a good source of fiber, pectin and antioxidants and have long been associated with "healthful" eating. The saying "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" was used in a speech given at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition but probably was derived from an old English proverb that stated "To eat an apple before going to bed, will make the doctor beg for his bread." Since about two-thirds of the fiber and many antioxidants are found in the peel, apples should not be peeled before consumption for maximum health benefits.

So, the next time you bite into a crisp, juicy apple just remember that you are perpetuating a practice as old as mankind. While the fruit itself might have changed considerably over the millennia, the fact is that apple still is regarded as one of nature’s prized treasures.

David Trinklein
Associate Professor Plant Sciences
TrinkleinD@missouri.edu