Apples - history, production, trade

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away": Probably the apple is the most valued fruit in modern dietetics.

The apple is the fruit of the apple tree (Malus domestica,Borkh. 1760), a fruit tree of the Rosaceae family.
The tree originated in Central Asia, where it seems that there were the ancestors of the current apple tree and probably its origins go back to the Neolithic.

The apple tree has not very deep creeping roots, it is clothed with thick foliage and has a smooth ash-gray bark.
The tree is frost-resistant and therefore it is widespread and can be cultivated also in the most Northern areas of the world, up to an altitude of 1000 m.

In Italy the trade of apples is particularly flourishing, as they are cultivated almost in all regions of the country, even though the best environments for apples are the fresher regions and those at the foot of mountains, because there apples can develop the most valuable organoleptic characteristics.

As for the soil, the apple tree is one of the less demanding fruit trees; however, it prefers soils without water stagnation, with an enough amount of humus and a good amount of calcium. Its fruits are countless as for varieties and qualities: each apple species has distinctive and different characteristics as for the harvesting and the maturation of fruits.

A lot of varieties are also granted a PGI certification, as the famous Valtellina apple of Trentino.

In any case, the apple is one the fruits that less depends on seasons, as it can be found during all the year, first of all thanks to importers and exporters of apples, wholesalers of apples and farms, but also because of the fact that there are innumerable apple varieties (of which some are already extinct or unobtainable) that are produced and then traded all over the world.

The apple can have different shapes and sizes: the skin can be smooth or rusty, green, yellow or red, with spots and stripes. The flesh can be white or yellowish, hard or juicy, sweet or acidic, sometimes floury. There are apples for table consumption that have different maturation periods but also cider apples in Northern countries and in France.

Visit our website www.zipmec.eu and look up for the list of apple farms on the most wide ad up to date database for fruits and vegetables.