Use of Electronic Nose Technology to Examine Apple Quality*

Abstract

Apples, traditionally an ethnic food, have become a globally desired food commodity. According to Smock and Neubert (1950), “the original home of the apple (Malus sylvestris is not know but it is thought to be indigenous to the region south of the Caucasus, from the Persian province of Ghilan on the Caspian Sea to Trezbizond on the Black Sea.)” Apples have probably existed from prehistoric times in both the wild and cultivated states in Europe from the Caspian Sea to the Atlantic Ocean (Hulme and Rhodes, 1971). Apples were available as early as 100. B.C., but “Pearmian” appears to be the first variety recorded in history appearing in 1204 in a deed relating to the lordship of Runton in Norfolk. In America, there are records as early as 1647 of apples having been grafted on seedling rootstocks in Virginia. By 1773, three years before the American War for Independence, apples from America were found in the London markets. The spread of the cultivation of apples in the United States is ascribed to Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) who established nurseries in Pennsylvania and Ohio.