The apple is an edible fruit with seeds of a sweet and tangy taste and with more or less astringent property according to the varieties. In France, it is the most consumed cultivated fruit and the third in the world.
The main types of apples are all from the domestic apple or common apple, of the species Malus domestica, which has about 20,000 varieties and cultivars around the world. Of a characteristic stocky shape sometimes almost spherical, it is eaten when raw, cooked or dried. Its juice is drunk as is or pasteurized; fermented, it gives cider.
Associated with the forbidden fruit in the representations of the Book of Genesis, it often symbolizes in the West the original sin or the sexual act.
EtymologyThe oldest attestation of the word in French dates back to the year 1100 in the Chanson de Roland in pume form.
The word apple comes from the Gallo-novel POMA, a term of Latin origin with the ending -a (collective neutral plural), taken for a singular feminine. In Latin, pomum (singular neutral) is the "fruit of a tree, pome fruit or stone" whose radical pom- is found in Pomone, the goddess of fruit. In classical Latin, the apple is called malum (which gave mail in Romansh, mela in Italian and măr in Romanian). The word apple replaced malum because the apple remains the fruit, the pomum, par excellence. On the other hand, the general meaning of "fruit" has been perpetuated for a long time, as evidenced by the names of potato, jackfruit, orange apple or even pine cone or cinnamon apple.
In some French-speaking African countries, the word apple designates the potato, the apple being designated by the term apple-fruit or French apple. The German borrowed from the French the term of french fries, generally reduced to apples, with sound.
He gave the Gallic abalo- "apple" and aballo "apple" (avallo in the Vienna glossary, glossy poma in Latin), the old Irish ubull "apple" and aball "apple", the Welsh afal, the cornique downstream and the Breton downstream "apple", (e) ur wezenn-downstream "apple", literally "an apple tree". We find the same Indo-European root in Germanic, cf. Dutch call, German Apfel, English apple.
Finally, the toponymy preserves many traces of the culture of apples in ancient times: Avallon (Yonne, Aballo 4th century), Availles-Limouzine (Vienne, Avallia 1123), etc. go back to the Gallic aballo- "apple tree".
Drug
Apples contain various compounds that protect them from viruses, bacteria and mold. By eating apples, humans benefit from these biomolecules, such as quercetin, which is effective on the brains of rats.
A study transposes to human beings the results obtained with laboratory rats: the daily consumption of an apple would reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease and that of Parkinson's.
Another study published in the journal Thorax25 today suggests that mothers who regularly eat apples (4 per week) while pregnant are less likely than others to give birth to an asthmatic child. Studies have also highlighted the interest of regular consumption of apple for cancer prevention, in particular on the beneficial action of apple procyanidins.
An old English or American saying, sources say, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away", translated as "An apple every morning keeps the doctor away" or "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" ("to condition to aim just ... ", like to remind, with humor, the English).
Toxicity
The seeds contain amygdalin and cyanogenic glycosides. Swallowed seeds that are chewed or whole in small amounts are harmless. Only one case of fatal cyanide poisoning has been reported in an adult. He chewed and swallowed a cup of seeds, extracted from several tens of kilos of fruit. It can take several hours before the poison takes effect, since cyanogenic glycosides must be hydrolyzed before the cyanide ion is released.
Effect on teeth
Although apples have positive health effects, the acidity of apples or their juice poses risks to the teeth, by attacking dentin and tooth enamel. Rinsing your mouth or drinking water after eating an apple or drinking apple juice reduces the negative effects of this acidity of the apple when eaten