The apple is a sweet, crunchy fruit that has been cultivated for over 2000 years. It is the fruit of the apple tree (Malus domestica).
Apples are widely eaten out of hand, used in baked desserts, dehydrated, or cooked into applesauce and apple butter. Their juice is enjoyed fresh, or fermented into hard cider. Note that in North American usage, "cider" can indicate either fresh apple juice or the fermented product, while in the United Kingdom and Ireland, "cider" always means the fermented product. The fermented cider can be distilled further to calvados or applejack.
Cultivars
Apples are very widely cultivated. All commercial apples are reproduced by grafting from cuttings, since the seeds of every apple fruit contain a new genetic combination, which may not have desirable traits.
Popular cultivars of the apple include:
- Gala
- Fuji
- Golden Delicious
- Granny Smith apple
- Red Delicious
- Honeycrisp
- Pippin
- McIntosh
- Mutsu, also called Crispin
- Braeburn
- Jonagold
- Empire
- Cameo
- Jazz
- Macoun
- Ambrosia