
Apple Facts
- Two pounds of apples make one 9-inch pie.
- Apple blossom is the state flower of Michigan.
- 2,500 varieties of apples are grown in the United States.
- 7,500 varieties of apples are grown throughout the world.
- 100 varieties of apples are grown commercially in the United States.
- Apples are grown commercially in 36 states.
- Apples are grown in all 50 states.
- Apples are fat, sodium, and cholesterol free.
- A medium apple is about 80 calories.
- Apples are a great source of the fiber pectin. One apple has five grams of fiber.
- The pilgrims planted the first United States apple trees in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
- The science of apple growing is called pomology.
- Apple trees take four to five years to produce their first fruit.
- Most apples are still picked by hand in the fall.
- Apple varieties range in size from a little larger than a cherry to as large as a grapefruit.
- Apples are propagated by two methods: grafting or budding.
- The apple tree originated in an area between the Caspian and the Black Sea.
- Apples were the favorite fruit of ancient
- Apples come in all shades of reds, greens, and yellows.
- Greeks and Romans.
- Apples are a member of the rose family.
- Apples harvested from an average tree can fill 20 boxes that weigh 42 pounds each.
- The largest apple picked weighed three pounds.
- Europeans eat about 46 pounds of apples annually.
- The average size of a United States orchard is 50 acres.
- Many growers use dwarf apple trees.
- Charred apples have been found in prehistoric dwellings in Switzerland.
- Most apple blossoms are pink when they open but gradually fade to white.
- Some apple trees will grow over 40 feet high and live over 100 years.
- Most apples can be grown farther north than most other fruits, because they blossom late in spring, minimizing frost damage.
- It takes the energy from 50 leaves to produce one apple.
- Apples are the second most valuable fruit grown in the United States. Oranges are first.
- In colonial time, apples were called winter banana or melt-in-the-mouth.
- The largest U. S. apple crop was 277.3 million cartons in 1998.
- Apples have five seed pockets or carpels. Each pocket contains seeds.
- The number of seeds per carpel is determined by the vigor and health of the plant.
- Different varieties of apples will have different number of seeds.
- World's top apple producers are China, United States, Turkey, Poland and Italy.
- The Lady or Api apple is one of the oldest varieties in existence.
- Newton Pippin apples were the first apples exported from America in 1768, some were sent to Benjamin Franklin in London.
- In 1730, the first apple nursery was opened in Flushing, New York.
- One of George Washington's hobbies was pruning his apple trees.
- America's longest-lived apple tree was reportedly planted in 1647 by Peter Stuyvesant in his Manhattan orchard and was still bearing fruit when a derailed train struck it in 1866.
- Apples ripen six to ten times faster at room temperature than if they were refrigerated.
- A peck of apples weight 10.5 pounds.
- A bushel of apples weights about 42 pounds and will yield 20-24 quarts of applesauce.
- Archeologists have found evidence that humans have been enjoying apples since at least 6500 B.C.
- The world's largest apple peel was created by Kathy Wafler Madison on October 16, 1976, in Rochester, NY.
- It was 172 feet, 4 inches long.
- (She was 16 years old at the time and grew up to be a sales manager for an apple tree nursery.)
- It takes about 36 apples to create one gallon of apple cider.
- Apples account for 50 percent of the world's deciduous fruit tree production.
- The old saying, “An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.” This saying comes from an old English adage,
- “To eat an apple before going to bed, will make the doctor beg his bread.”
- 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.
- In 2005, United States consumers ate an average of 46.1 pounds of fresh apples and processed apple products.
- That's a lot of applesauce!
- Sixty-three percent of the 2005 U.S. apple crop was eaten as fresh fruit.
- In 2005, 36 percent of apples were processed into apple products; 18.6 percent of this is for juice and cider,
- Two percent was dried, 2.5 percent was frozen, 12.2 percent was canned and 0.7 percent was fresh slices.
- Other uses were the making of baby food, apple butter or jelly and vinegar.
- The top apple producing states are Washington, New York, Michigan,Pennsylvania, California and Virginia.
- In 2006, 58% of apples produced in the United States were produced in Washington, 11% in New York, 8% in Michigan, 5% in Pennsylvania, 4% in California and 2% in Virginia.
- In 2005, there were 7,500 apple growers with orchards covering 379,000 acres.
- In 1998-90 the U.S. per capita fresh apple consumption was around 21 pounds.
- In 2005, the average United States consumer ate an estimated 16.9 pounds of fresh market apples
- Total apple production in the United States in 2005 was 234.9 million cartons valued at $1.9 billion.
- In 2006/2007 the People's Republic of China led the world in commercial apple production with 24,480,000 metric tons followed by the United States with 4,460,544 metric tons.
- In 2006/2007 commercial world production of apples was at 44,119,244 metric tons.
- Almost one out of every four apples harvested in the United States is exported.
- 35.7 million bushels of fresh market apples in 2005 were exported. That was 24 percent of the total U.S. fresh-market crop.
- The apple variety ‘Red Delicious' is the most widely grown in the United States with 62 million bushels harvested in 2005.
- Many apples after harvesting and cleaning have commercial grade wax applied. Waxes are made from natural ingredients.
- National Apple Month is the only national, generic apple promotion conducted in the United States.
- Originally founded in 1904 as National Apple Week, it was expanded in 1996 to a three-month promotional window from September through November.
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All of the above information acquired from the University of Illinois Extension Service.
Suncrisp apple
