The apple

The emergence of the Rosaceae family 80 million years ago marked the birth of this large family to which the apple belongs. The apple as we know it today first appeared in the early Quaternary period in the region of Turkey, approximately 2 million years ago. Originally, apples were tiny and poisonous. During the Neolithic period, the shift to a sedentary lifestyle, along with access to agriculture and animal husbandry, facilitated their development and subsequent spread to Egypt, Greece, and Italy. In the 7th century BC, the founding of Marseille by the Greeks was undoubtedly one of the starting points for the introduction of the apple tree in southern France. The Romans brought with them the thirty or so varieties they knew. From the 10th to the 14th century, monasteries developed the importation and grafting of apples. Today, several thousand apple varieties exist; here, the Golden Delicious is the most common. As for its medicinal benefits, here are a few that will certainly encourage you to eat apples more often (tooth decay, constipation and diarrhea, fatigue, insomnia, obesity and cellulite, burns…).