Apple

Malus domestica, M. sieversii

fruit

A round fruit with red, yellow or green skin, tart for cider or sweet for eating: there are nearly 20,000 varieties. Its pectin and polyphenols sit mostly in the skin.

Origin

Tian Shan mountains (Kazakhstan)

Season (United States)

August to March · grows in your region

Preparation

The pips are spat out: crunched, they release a little cyanide; swallowed whole by accident, they do nothing. The pectin and almost all the polyphenols are in the skin and just beneath: peeled, not much is left of what interests the flora. Its skin is eaten, and that is where its polyphenols sit: worth keeping, then — but under running water, rubbing it, which is what takes off most of what settles there, organic or not.

Molecules

Pectins · Flavanols and procyanidins · Flavonols (quercetin) · Insoluble fibersIn small amounts, not counted Phenolic acids

Did you know?

The city of Almaty means “father of apples” — the wild cradle of the fruit.