Their varieties number in the thousands and is present in the fruit stores throughout the year. But it is in the fall when it starts the collection of a fruit that builds its success on its virtues: strong, healthy, and with a wide range of flavors, shapes and scents without equal
“To make an apple pie first you have to create a universe”, said the legendary science popularizer Carl Sagan. With his words I wanted to introduce the grandeur of the cosmos in everyday life, but their reflection could also have made reference to the immense world of shapes, colors and flavors surrounding the apple, the fruit which in the autumn becomes the owner of the market.
it Is estimated that there are more than 20,000 varieties, of which around 7,500 are trademarks in continuous process of evolution in search of new mutations. “It is, of the fruits, the most widespread at a global level. Produce apples in the five continents. We at certain times of the year we have come to collect varieties from New Zealand, Japan, Magadascar, Chile, and various points of Europe. We played the five continents”, explains Luis Pacheco, owner of the fruit shop Gold Gourmet.
According to the Annual Report of Mercasa, apple accounted for 9% of the total volume of fruit sold in our country in 2017 -some three million tons-. “It is a fruit of great eye candy and pure temptation for all ages. It is irresistible because of the color, the taste and the texture. It is a product of great attraction to consume at any time and in any place”, explained from the public enterprise specialist in the wholesale distribution of food fresh.
Producer powerful
Spain is one of the largest producers of apples in Europe. 85% of the national production is concentrated in Catalonia, Aragon and la Rioja, although it is also substantial production in Castilla y León, Navarra and the Valencian Community. The sum represents nearly half a million of tons, not counting the one that comes from outside, mainly from France and Italy. Two years ago, Afrucat (Asociación Empresarial de Fruta de Cataluña) reported that almost one of every two apples consumed was foreign, but is currently estimated at 30%, although the exact figure varies constantly because of the changing taste of the consumer country.
“no longer working the same varieties that when I began three decades ago,” says Pacheco. “Before it was consumed a lot of Green Maiden, Pippin, and Golden, who continue to have demand. But other that had a hitch, as the Beauty of Rome, which was cultivated in Aragon, is practically extinct,” recalls Pacheco. Currently, the Golden remains the most appreciated by the consumers of our country, followed by the Fuji, Starking and Pippin.
Another of the virtues listed as the fruit of health -apart from the quote from Sagan that starts this article, there are several related with their virtues, as “an apple a day keeps the doctor away from your life”- is how well it resists the graft, which makes the search for new varieties to be constant. “We maintain a continuous contact with experimental centres around the world,” explains Fabio Zanesco, marketing director of the Cooperative Association for fruit and Vegetables of Val Venosta. The last season threw Yello, and in 2019 will arrive on the market Natyra and Beautiful. “We are investing in innovation and technology to differentiate ourselves, because the market is passing through a complex situation. There is a overproduction general. And many traditional varieties are now becoming a commodity [products without a distinguishing feature], making it difficult to obtain good results. It is a time of change and we must adapt,” he adds.
Present year-round
In autumn, the apple comes to the palate directly from the tree. Your collection lasts six months, but the fruit remains in the shops all year round. Before you were saved among the straw from the barns to hold them, but now are stored in controlled atmospheres after being harvested and cleaned. This prevents contact with the oxygen and the carbon dioxide, since it is a fruit climacteric reconstruction: once it is collected, continues to mature and generating ethylene, a gas that is equal to expand its fragrance throughout the room which rots the fruits nearby.
The great variety of apples prevents that you can determine how many calories you exact have a piece, but usually around the 50 every 100 grams. In addition, this fruit provides vitamins, minerals and soluble fiber. Many experts also recommend drinking the water with the skin to burn fat.
all in all, this year the average price of apple has increased, reaching record prices in varieties such as Golden, very attractive to markets such as the Italian one. “That leads me to make a mention of important”, highlights the fruit-Luis Pacheco. “The apple is a fruit, affordable, easy accessibility and acquisition. That’s why when I hear ‘this apple is to face’ I think of the floods terrible that have suffered in Catalonia, Navarre, and Aragon,… A kilo it costs 2.50 euros, about 60 cents a unit, and still say that is expensive. But then we take a coffee for a euro and we left a tip. We have to be more aware and put the apple in value,” he concludes.
Varieties to suit all tastes
Golden Delicious. Round and yellow, its flesh is juicy, with a bitter touch and rich in fructose.
Granny Smith. Of bright green color, its aroma is soft and its flesh crisp and very acidic.
Pomfret. Rounded and somewhat flattened, fur-green-brown. Dense pulp and a flavour delicately acid.
Fuji. Of rounded form and considerable size, your foot is pink, and its flesh crisp, sweet and very juicy.
the Green Maiden. Skin fine and shining, white meat and consistent, and taste sweet without getting cloying.
Network Chief. Skin of a deep red bright, stands out for its elongated shape and its white pulp, sweet and soft.
Royal Gala. With red and orange tones, has a rounded shape and a crunchy flesh, strong, juicy and sweet.
Starking. It has a crimson intense on the whole surface, with an inner firm, sweet and crunchy.
According to the criteria of
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