Berlin
An apple a day keeps the proverbial doctor away. Given the abundance of strains, the question arises: which ones are best?
Arkansas Black, Honeycrisp, Queen Alexandra and Virginia Beauty all sound like successful dressage horses. Four of an estimated 30,000 hide behind the names apple varieties. The robust and versatile fruit, which once found its way to Europe via the Silk Road like silk and noodles, is cultivated and modified like hardly any other plant. Subspecies were bred for cakes, juices, jams, vinegar or schnapps. Eaten raw, the most popular fruit among Germans provides valuable minerals, vitamins and roughage. But which apple varieties are the healthiest?
You really can’t go wrong with an apple. With around 50 to 70 calories and a weight of 150 to 300 grams, it serves as a light snack between meals. The mixture of fructose and glucose also provides a quick boost of energy, which makes apples the ideal supplement before or during exercise. In addition to the rich minerals that are required in almost all physical metabolic processes, many important vitamins are included. At around 85 percent, the apple consists largely of water.
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Modern apples: Sweeter in taste, but less nutritious
At the latest with the rise of the “Golden Delicious”, which is still one of the five varieties that are grown by far the most, the commercialization of the apple started. In the 1950s, modern cultivation and fertilization methods as well as effective pesticides meant that robust apple varieties no longer had to be relied on. As a result, larger, sweeter and more versatile varieties were bred.
Most important nutrients in apples:
- Carbohydrates (dextrose and fructose)
- potassium
- Vitamin B1 (Important for the heart, brain, muscles and nervous system)
- Vitamin B2 (catalyst in the metabolism of proteins, fats and carbohydrates)
- Vitamin B6 (immune system and hormone transport)
- Vitamin E (antioxidant)
- Vitamin C (wound healing)
- dietary fiber (digestion)
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However, the fact that apples taste sweeter today than they did 100 years ago also has disadvantages. Fruit growers nowadays use a lot of fertilizer and pesticides, which leads to soil erosion and species extinction contributes. The modification also has consequences for human health. Because the new sweetness is at the expense of the natural acidity in the wild apple.
Polyphenol: Natural defense substance for plants and humans
As demonstrated by researchers at Dalhousie University in Canadamodern apples contain an average of 43 percent less acid and 68 percent less polyphenols than that primal fruit. The secondary plant substance phenol is a protective mechanism against UV light as well as insect and fungal infestation and is responsible for the red shading on the skin of original apple varieties. It is also the plant phenols that cause the brown discoloration when the flesh is exposed to oxygen.
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For the domesticated apple itself, the chemical compound is not vital in sterile orchard cultivation. The human organism, on the other hand, benefits considerably from the phenols. The antioxidants work anti-inflammatory and fight free radicals that lead to the breakdown of body cells. Free radicals are toxic to living organisms and are triggered by poor diet, smoking, alcohol or stress.
Caution allergy sufferers – Germans eat a billion tons of apples
Especially people who are allergic to apples are likely to long for times when the apple was not cultivated. Because apples, which have few phenols, are rich in allergenic proteins. If you want to eat a particularly rich apple, it is best to use old varieties. In Germany there are about boskop or Berlepsch. Both are dessert apples that have a sour taste. The American breed Idared is also recommended thanks to its nutrients, it is considered to be finely acidic and poor in aromas.
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On the other hand, popular trend varieties from the fruit section of the local supermarket, such as Granny Smith, Jonagold, Pink Lady and Golden Delicious, are more natural immunity largely deprived. Incidentally, dessert apples should not be peeled. The most valuable plant secondary substances accumulate as a protective barrier in the shell.
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Germans eat more than 24 kilograms of apples per year. According to the Federal Statistical Office, around one billion tons were harvested in Germany in 2021, three quarters of them as table fruit were sold. About 86 percent of the apples consumed in Germany were also harvested here.
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