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APPLE TYPES , POLLINATION , MATURITY, HARVEST & USES

APPLE TYPES , POLLINATION , MATURITY, HARVEST & USES 

Article by - Keerthana Gundagani

An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (Malus domestica). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus Malus. 

Generally, apple cultivars are propagated by clonal grafting onto rootstocks.


Blossoms are produced in spring simultaneously with the budding of the leaves and are produced on spurs and some long shoots. 






The fruit is a pome that matures in late summer or autumn, and cultivars exist in a wide range of sizes. Commercial growers aim to produce an apple that is 7 to 8.5 cm (2+3⁄4 to 3+1⁄4 in) in diameter, due to market preference.

  • Several whole genome sequences have been made available, the first one in 2010 was based on the diploid cultivar 'Golden Delicious'.

  • Winter apples, picked in late autumn and stored just above freezing, have been an important food in Asia and Europe.

A few old cultivars are still produced on a large scale, but many have been preserved by home gardeners and farmers that sell directly to local markets.


 

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  •  Apples can also form bud sports (mutations on a single branch). Some bud sports turn out to be improved strains of the parent cultivar.


Pollination:


Apple blossom from an old Ayrshire cultivar


Orchard mason bee on apple bloom, British Columbia, Canada

Apples are self-incompatible; they must cross-pollinate to develop fruit. During the flowering each season, apple growers often utilize pollinators to carry pollen. Honey bees are most commonly used. Orchard mason bees are also used as supplemental pollinators in commercial orchards. Bumblebee queens are sometimes present in orchards, but not usually in sufficient number to be significant pollinators.




Orchard mason bee on apple bloom, British Columbia, Canada.



 Maturation and harvest:


Cultivars vary in their yield and the ultimate size of the tree, even when grown on the same rootstock. Some cultivars, if left unpruned, grow very large—letting them bear more fruit, but making harvesting more difficult. Depending on tree density (number of trees planted per unit surface area), mature trees typically bear 40–200 kg (90–440 lb) of apples each year, though productivity can be close to zero in poor years. Apples are harvested using three-point ladders that are designed to fit amongst the branches. Trees grafted on dwarfing rootstocks bear about 10–80 kg (20–180 lb) of fruit per year.

 Storage:



  • Commercially, apples can be stored for a few months in controlled atmosphere chambers to delay ethylene-induced ripening. 

  • Apples are commonly stored in chambers with higher concentrations of carbon dioxide and high air filtration.

  •  This prevents ethylene concentrations from rising to higher amounts and preventing ripening from occurring too quickly.


Non-organic apples may be sprayed with a substance 1-methylcyclopropene blocking the apples' ethylene receptors, temporarily preventing them from ripening.


Uses:

        All parts of the fruit, including the skin, except for the seeds, are suitable for human consumption. The core, from stem to bottom, containing the seeds, is usually not eaten and is discarded.


Apples can be consumed in various ways: juice, raw in salads, baked in pies, cooked into sauces and spreads like apple butter, and other baked dishes.


Apples are sometimes used as an ingredient in savory foods, such as sausage and stuffing.


Several techniques are used to preserve apples and apple products. Apples can be canned, dried or frozen. Canned or frozen apples are eventually baked into pies or other cooked dishes. Apple juice or cider is also bottled. Apple juice is often concentrated and frozen.


 An apple core, part of an apple not usually eaten, containing the seeds.



Soil:

  •  Apple thrives best in loamy soils,which are rich in organic 

          matter.

  •  A soil pH  between 6.0 to 6.5 with good drainage and aeration are considered most suitable.

  •  The soil should be deep,fertile and free from hard substrates and waterlogged conditions.






 

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