Cool stuff about apples!

Apples —Fun Facts

• Grow Apples: It takes the energy from 50 leaves to produce one apple. One apple tree can produce up to 500 apples per year!  Apple varieties range in size from a little larger than a cherry to as large as a grapefruit.
• Bad Apples: Crabapples are the only variety considered native to North America.

• Odd Apples: In colonial time, apples were called winter banana or melt-in-the-mouth.

• Smart Apples: The science of apple growing is called pomology.

• Old Apples: Archeologists have found evidence that humans have been enjoying apples since at least 6500 B.C.

• Family Apples: Apples belong to the Rosaceae family of plants, along with cherries, peaches, raspberries and roses.

• Armored Apples!:  Did you know, apples can produce their own wax-like coating called the “cuticle”?  This barrier protects against drying, pesticides, injury and infections.

• Good Apples/Bad Apples?: Unripe tomatoes and bananas?  Place them in a bag with a ripe apple.  Apples release ethylene gas that promotes nearby fruit to ripen.  However, one bad apple really can spoil the whole bunch.  A bruised or damaged apple releases such high levels of ethylene gas, it causes fruit around it to rot more quickly.

Apples —Health & Nutrition Facts

• 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, provide protection to blood vessels and promotes a healthy heart.

• Studies show that eating whole, fresh apples can lower the risk of obesity by 30%!

• One apple a day isn’t just a myth!  Studies show that eating one whole apple per day, for a period of 4 weeks can significantly decrease blood levels of LDL cholesterol.

• Apples help increase the good bacteria in the lower large intestine or colon. Apples also contain pectin, a dietary fiber that helps the body stabilize blood sugar.

JILL’S JOKES!!

What do you call an angry apple?

A crab apple!

How do you make an apple turnover?

You push it down hill!

RECIPES WITH APPLES

EASY HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE

Find out more about APPLES here:

https://web.extension.illinois.edu/apples/facts.cfm

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=15