Great Information about the History of the Apple and its Health Benefits:

One of the most popular quotations of the 19th Century was "An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Before the 20th century there was no food pyramid or someone to announce the importance of five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. People simply recognized the healthy attributes of the apple. Some people were also well aware of the apple's relationship to the history of the world. Author-naturalist Henry David Thoreau wrote, "It is remarkable how closely the history of the apple tree is connected with that of man."

Though some historians are in dispute over exactly who first cultivated the wild apple, many believe it was the Romans who discovered they could cultivate these wild apples into fleshy, sweet, and juicy fruits. Some historians report the apple's origins were rooted in Southwestern Asia, just south of the Caucasus Mountains between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Others note that apple seeds found in Anatolia were carbon dated 6500 BCE. Archeologists even found a fossilized imprint of an apple seed from the Neolithic period in England.

What makes a truly tasty apple? The flavor is a magical blend of tartness, sweetness, bitterness, and aroma that awakens the senses. The sweetness, 9% to 12% of the fruit, comes from sucrose and fructose, two forms of natural sugar. The acid content consists of 90% malic acid and10% citric acid. The malic acid content can make up 0.4% to 1% of the fruit. The astringent bite we taste in an apple emanates from tannins averaging 0.2% of the fruit. The familiar aroma is a mysterious blend of 250 trace chemicals contained in the fruit, such as volatile esters, alcohols, and aldehydes.

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