The first apples from this year’s harvest are already on sale. The first to be harvested are the early geneva apples, which have greenish-yellow skin and a beautiful red coloring from the sun.
There are many varieties of apples grown in Poland. The color of their skin comes in shades of green, yellow or red, and the colors very often mix on the same fruit. From a scientific point of view, the color of apples consists of the basic color and the blush. The primary color is the one we see from the shaded side. It can be green, yellow, or greenish-yellow. Blush, on the other hand, is a secondary color.
In the case of apples, it’s red. A flavonoid called cyanidin is a dye that directly affects the red color of apple skin. The presence of pigments in apples depends on the variety and is genetically determined.
Very often for consumers, intensely red-colored apples are perceived as higher quality fruit, and this quality often means great flavor and firmness. However, obtaining the right blush against a green background is a difficult task and, apart from the genetic characteristics of the variety, depends on many factors, including the right amount of light, daily temperature fluctuations.
The color of an apple does not directly determine its other characteristics, such as flavor or flesh texture. Therefore, when choosing fruit for yourself, it is worth taking into account the characteristics of the variety, and not just the color of the peel.
Polish apples are delicious in all colors.
There is a programme which “aims to inform European consumers of the properties and benefits of fruit and vegetables, cultivated in the open air and greenhouses, under the strictest quality controls and standards of the European Production Model”. This programme is entitled Cultivating the Taste of Europe (CuTE). On the programme’s website, there are some recipes and a lot of information about cultivating apples in Poland. The CuTE programme has launched in 2019 and lasts until 2021.
For more about the CuTE campaign click HERE