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February 2006 Update of research on the apples from Kazakhstan and China An important collection of apple trees now growing at the Plant Genetic Resources Unit on the Cornell University campus have come mostly from seeds planted, and from some grafts made from wood mainly taken from the famed apple trees of Kazakhstan and China, plus some from Russia. Since the 1990's researchers have been collecting apple material from these areas to conserve it, evaluate it, and eventually distribute to geneticists world wide. This Central Asian gene pool is very diverse, and contains genetic material from apples that are resistant to many diseases. Apple breeders will be able to isolate the resistant genes in the resistant apples and cross them with current varieties. Many Kazak trees show resistance to apple scab, one of the most devastating fungal diseases that attacks many popular varieties which have little or no resistance. Other genes have shown resistance to fire blight, and to conditions of cold, dry mountainous regions. Especially important are the collections of M. sieversii from Kazakhstan, and M. orientalis from Russia. The hope is that in 5 to 7 years the results of the cross breeding programs between the more resistant and diverse Kazak apples and varieties currently grown will have a large impact on the future of the apple industry worldwide. Scientists involved in this program are from the University of Minnesota, and others in New England and South Africa. Both the famed wild apples and cultivated varieties in the Tien Shan mountains had started to decline in the 1970's and accelerated during the chaos following Kazakhstan's independence from Russia in 1991. A familiar story - land development has taken its toll, state-run orchards being sold, and the old plantings destroyed. Now the main source is small farmers who have held on to their orchards, and ancient areas not yet developed. AN ABBREVIATED CULINARY HISTORY OF APPLES 8000 BC - from the Caspian Sea to the lower slopes of the Tien Shan Mountains groups of nomads were part of the long transition to living in settled agricultural communities, Although there is no physical evidence, certainly we can visualize that the local apples, in addition to be eaten raw, were being roasted on a stick, perhaps with a piece of meat over the cooking fire, or added to whatever mixture was stewing on the fire, or were left out on rocks to dry in the sun to preserve for later use. 6500 BC - Remains of dried apples have been found near
present Jericho.
5000 BC - The first record of grafting techniques being
used to propagate fruit comes from China.
2500 BC - The first evidence of carefully dried apples
were found laid on a saucer and come from a tomb near present day Basra
in Southern Iraq.
400 BC - In ancient Persia the wealthy enjoyed the pleasure
of walled gardens which included fruit trees whose crops were part of
feasts which ended with a final course of fresh and dried fruits, nuts
and wine. The Persian word for walled garden, pairidaeza, became
the Roman paradises, which became the English paradise.
325 BC - The first record of cane sugar comes from Alexander's admiral, Nearchos, returning from India. The first recipes for fruit pastes, candies, jams, jellies and cordials come from Arab pharacopoeias. Sugar, with the advantage of a mostly neutral flavor in comparison with honey, can be heated and used as a sterile syrup, it reacts with fruit acids and pectin, and could be used to preserve in making crystallized fruits. As the Roman Empire expanded trade flowed along the caravan networks, including all manner of fruits plus the skills and tools need to grow them. The Romans dispersed the apple and those skills to all areas of their influence, and created a deity for fruit trees - the goddess Pomona. When the Roman Empire collapsed the walled gardens and ancient horticultural practices fell into disuse. By the tenth century these skills appeared again - inside monastery walls along with the gardens and vineyards of the monks. In Renaissance Italy, also in France and England, the possibilities of using fresh and preserved fruits was becoming more elaborate. Tables piled high with the finest silver, glassware, and fine porcelain were available during and after a feast; with melons, prunes, cherries, apricots, apples, quince, pears, biscuits, tartlets, cakes and whipped sugared cream, sugared and spiced nuts, wine, and flowers - all to be admired for flavor and beauty. Today commercial orchardists and backyard growers alike are still drawn by the beauty of the fruit and rewards of creating their own personal vision of the long ago walled gardens from the orchards of paradise. Both groups are planting heirloom varieties along with newer varieties bred for resistance to apple scab, fire blight, cedar apple rust and powdery mildew. However, as both commercial and backyard growers know there is no protection from the sudden fury of a hail storm or the night of bitter, unseasonable cold. APPLES - A SHORT, IMPERFECT HISTORY Origin:
Apples, part of the vast Rosaceae family, are thought to have originally
been a cross between a primitive plum from the rose family and a flower
of the Spiraea family called the meadowsweet, resulting in a tiny, bitter
primitive fruit. Paleobotanists believe that eight pairs of chromosomes
from the plum united with nine pairs of chromosomes from the meadowsweet
to form the first Malus. It is these thirty-four chromosomes which create
the opportunity for the most diverse and variable fruit on earth; now more
than ten thousand varieties. Apples do not breed "true" from seed.
Domestication:
The precise origins of the domestic apple, Malus X domestica, are obscure.
The primary ancestor is probably a central Asian species, Malus sieversii.
It is from central Asia, on the slopes of the Tien-Shan or Heavenly Mountains
of Kazakhstan, in an area where large-fruit domesticated apples still remain.
Near the present city of Almaty (formerly Alama Ata) which translates as
"Father of Apples," are remnants of primeval forests where fruit trees still
remain, and are now being studied in "apple genome" projects. Seeds and
cuttings from apples and other temperature climate fruits probably spread
from this region into the Mideast, across Europe, up into northern latitudes,
and to the Atlantic Ocean. Nature and man, through selection and rejection
over thousands of years have created a complex and still evolving fruit.
The New World:
Apples have migrated along with a diverse array of people and cultures all over the world. Settlers from European countries brought with them the seeds and apples from all their home countries, and planted orchards all along the eastern seaboard. From these orchards the pioneers took seeds and cuttings to start orchards in the Midwest and West. Spanish and Portuguese took apples to South America. Members of the Spanish Mission carried apples northward into California. In this century, new apple varieties have been developed and planted all over the world. Russia had been the largest producer of apples in the world, now it appears that China has rapidly taken over this spot, and is a major exporter of many varieties of apples and oceangoing tankers of apple concentrate.
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