APPLE PROPERTIES AS FOOD
Apple is an excellent fruit that, due to its basic character, we can believe it to be the only one that can be eaten with any type of food and at any hour of the day, without producing nourishing incompatibilities. Apart from eating it crude, cooked (single or combined with other foods), some other well-known products are produced from it such as:
- Cider : Liquid with a slightly alcoholic content (8 º as maximum) which is obtained from the fermentation of the squashed apple pulp into a wooden container during 7 or 8 days. the resulting liquid must be introduced in another container during a pair of moths, and finally stored in glass bottles that must be stored in a cold and obscure place. It is a good remedy against the thirst and conserves most of the properties of the apple, although, because of its alcohol content, one should drink it with care.
- Apple syrup: A type of jam becoming from boiling during a couple of hours the apple juice till it acquires the consistency of honey. Then it must be sterilized, using the technique of Bain-Marie, resulting a very nutritious ” marmalade ” with the presence of so many sugars, mainly fructose.
- Apple jelly:: It is done by a similar process, but in this case the whole peeled apple must be boiled, instead of the juice.
Nutritional composition of apples
The main nutritional values of apple for 100 gr. are the following.
| Composition of apple per 100g | |
| Nutrient | Content |
| Water | 84 g. |
| Calories | 59 kcal. |
| Carbohydrates | 15 g. |
| Proteins | 0.19 g. |
| Fibers | 2.7 g. |
| Lipids | 0,4 g. |
| Potassium | 115 mg. |
| Calcium | 7 mg. |
| Phosphorus | 7 mg. |
| Magnesium | 5 mg. |
| Sulphur | 5 mg. |
| Iron | 0,18 mg. |
| Vitamin B3 (Niacin) | 0, 17 mg. |
| Vitamin A | 53 U.I. |
| Vitamin E | 0,4 mg. |
- Cosmetics: Because of its astringent properties, apple has been used from ancient times to produce face masks, with the purpose of eliminating impurities and reaffirming the skin
Toxicity of apples
Apple lacks toxicity, with the exception of the ingestion of its seeds that, as it happens in all the rose family members contain acids that, combined with the gastric juice, produce cyanide.
However the ingestion of these would have to be very great and voluntary to produce a fatal result, as it seems to have happened with a man in U.S.A
More information on apples
