Apple Facts

• Apples come in all shades of reds, greens, yellows.
• A medium apple (approx 2.5” in diameter) weighs 5 ounces.
• The Prairie Sensation apple is 3 to 3.5 inches in diameter.
• A medium apple has only 81 calories and a whopping 3.7 grams of fiber from pectin, a soluble fibre.
• 25% of an apple’s volume is air.  That is why they float.
• A mature dwarf apple tree (7 years old) can produce 30 to 40 lbs of apples per year, if properly pruned, tinned, well polinated and with good weather conditions.
• There are 7500 varieties of apples are grown throughout the world.
• 25% of apples are processed into juice and cider.
• Apples are fat, sodium and cholesterol FREE.
• The science of apple growing is called pomology.
• Apple trees take four to five years to produce their first fruit.
• Apples were the favourite fruit of ancient Greeks and Romans.
• Apples are a member of the rose family.
• Canadians eat approximately 20 lbs of apples per year
• Europeans eat approximately 46 lbs of apples per year
• Most apple blossoms are pink when they open but gradually fade to white.
• It takes the energy from 50 leaves to produce an apple
• The world’s top apple producers are China, USA, Turkey, Poland and Italy.
• Apples ripens six to ten times faster at room temperature than if they were refrigerated.
• A bushel of apples weighs about 42 lbs - there is four pecks in a bushel.
• It takes 14 to 18 lbs of apples to make one gallon or 4.546 L of cider.
• One ton of apples is 48 bushels.
• Small apples keep longer than large ones.

7 year old dwarf apple tree - University of Saskatchewan orchard

Some Recommendations

• Seek out the apples that have not been waxed.  Farmer’s market, your local orchard or Petrofka Bridge Orchard concession are the best place to buy them without paraffin.
• If you can purchase local apples, it is sometimes the best way to avoid pesticides.
• Unpeeled apples provide their most plentiful nutrients just under the skin.  Apples are a good source of potassium, folic acid and vitamin C.
• It is suggested that you peel the skin off if the fruit is waxed.
• Petrofka Bridge Orchard has calculated that drinking three to four ounces of our cider per day is like consuming two to three medium size apples. This is why, if our soft cider is fed to children in an 8oz glass, should be well diluted.
• Dip peeled apples in lemon or salt water to prevent the flesh from darkening.

What the Experts Say

• Due to high fiber content, apples are cited by health experts for their benefits in reducing the risk of heart attack.
• The National Cancer Institute has reported that foods containing flavonoids like those found in apples may reduce the risk of lung cancer by as much as 50 percent.
• A Finnish study published in 1996 showed that people who eat a diet rich in flavonoids have a lower incidence of heart disease.  Other studies indicate that flavonoids may help prevent strokes.
• Condensed tannins are found in apples.  Tannins have anti-adhesion properties that may help prevent periodontal or gum disease because they inhibit some bacteria from bonding to each other and producing dental plaque.