Types of Apples
Tart to Sweet: Granny Smith, Empire, McIntosh, SweeTango, Lemonade, Lucy Glo, Cosmic Crisp, Hunnyz, Lucy Rose, SnapDragon, Honeycrisp, Sugarbee, Envy, Rockit.
Rave – boring in mid-October 2024.
SweeTango – very tasty in mid-October 2024; a little watery and thin skinned in mid-November.
Apple Beverages
Apple beverages are created by pressing apples. In many countries ‘apple juice’ refers to a pasteurized, filtered product while ‘apple cider’ refers to an unpasteurized, unfiltered product. ‘hard cider’ is fermented apple cider and ‘sparkling cider’ is carbonated apple juice.
Apple Seeds
Apple seeds contain small amounts of organic arsenic that, unlike inorganic arsenic, passes harmlessly through the body. Inorganic arsenic is a heavy metal, which like lead, persists in the environment and in the body. Over a certain threshold, (inorganic) arsenic is fatally toxic. Apple seeds (and many other types of seeds and kernels) also contain cyanide (in the form of amygdalin, a cyanogenic glycoside). There are no known cases of amygdalin poisoning from apple seed consumption.
NPR 2021 clip on toxins in apple seeds – with the conclusion that the amount of toxins is far below the threshold of concern.
In 2012 The Dr. Oz Show and Consumer Reports highlighted problems with elevated levels of arsenic in apple juice. (Arsenic in Apple Juice on the Dr. Oz Show.) As noted, the arsenic of concern is inorganic; traces of organic arsenic in the apple cider from your farmers’ market is not a concern. Inorganic arsenic in apple juice is generally due to the use of arsenic-based insecticides on the source apples. A significant amount of inorganic arsenic may be present in apples as long as ten years after the source trees were last treated with arsenic-based insecticides. A majority of the apples used in commercial apple juice in the United States is from China; China’s regulations on arsenic are more recent and compliance is much laxer than in the United States. The water used to irrigate the apple trees and/or to dilute the apple concentrate is another potential source when it comes from rock formations containing inorganic arsenic.
Apple Products
Apple seed oil.