Red Apple

Name: Red apple, most commonly the Red Delicious variety (Malus domestica ‘Red Delicious’). “Red apple” is a general term covering many sweet, red-skinned dessert cultivars — Red Delicious, Gala, Fuji, and Braeburn among them — of which Red Delicious is the classic, most recognizable example.

Description

Like all apple varieties, Red Delicious is a cultivar of the domesticated apple, a tree fruit descended from the wild Malus sieversii of Central Asia and refined into thousands of distinct named types over the centuries. What sets red dessert varieties like this one apart is a deep red skin, rounder shape, and sweeter, low-acid flesh bred specifically for eating fresh rather than cooking.

Red Delicious itself began as a chance seedling found on an Iowa farm in the 1870s by a grower named Jesse Hiatt, who originally called it “Hawkeye.” A nursery later renamed and marketed it as Red Delicious, and it went on to become one of the most widely planted apple varieties in the United States through the 20th century, prized as much for its striking color as its flavor.

Main nutrition value

Per 100g, raw red delicious apple with skin:

Red apples like Red Delicious carry the same basic nutrition profile as apples generally: meaningful fiber, a useful amount of potassium, and small amounts of manganese and copper — with somewhat more natural sugar than tarter, greener varieties.

How best to be consumed

Red dessert apples are bred for eating fresh, out of hand, skin and all, which keeps their fiber intact. Their milder, sweeter flavor and softer texture make them less suited to baking than firmer, tarter varieties, since they can turn mealy under heat; they are better suited to salads, lunchboxes, and snacking.

Overconsumption could cause…

Red apples are safe in ordinary amounts, but their higher sugar content compared with tarter varieties means eating large quantities regularly adds up faster, and apple juice or cider made from them concentrates that sugar further while stripping out the fiber. Eating a lot of any apple at once can cause bloating or loose stools, and the seeds should never be chewed and swallowed in bulk due to a small amount of a cyanide-producing compound.

GroupsApples and PearsRose family (Rosaceae)Low fatLow sodiumFresh

Related foodsGreen ApplePearQuinceAppleLoquatAsian Pear / Nashi Pear

U.S. Department of Agriculture, FoodData Central — Apples, red delicious, with skin, raw (FDC ID 1750339), 100g portion: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/1750339/nutrients Encyclopaedia Britannica — apple (fruit and tree) [no dedicated Red Delicious article; general apple entry used]: https://www.britannica.com/plant/apple-fruit-and-tree