Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Due to the fertile soil and favourable climatic conditions, almost all fruit species can be grown on the territory of Azerbaijan.

The cultivation of traditional varieties of apples and other fruits will be restored in Azerbaijani Guba region , Specialist of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources Ragim Ibrahimov told journalists on March 4.

Presently, consultations are underway to restore the cultivation of fruit varieties for which there is a great demand.

Ibrahimov added that new, environmentally friendly fruit varieties will be grown in Azerbaijan, and specialists from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Academy of Sciences have already begun work on the matter.

About 300 species of apples are grown in Azerbaijan. Moreover, 60 of them are of industrial importance. A special advantage of apples is the possibility of their long-term storage. In Azerbaijan, apples ripen almost the entire year.

The largest apple orchards are located in Guba and Khachmaz. There are more than 22,000 hectares of gardens in the Guba-Khachmaz zone, some 13,062 hectares of which fall on the share of Guba region.

Approximately 30-35 percent of apples grown in Guba is on sale in the country's markets. Markets of Russia, the world's largest importer, are at the forefront of the volume of goods shipped abroad.

Apple fans – the fruit not the phone – should visit the Apple festival celebrated annually in Guba every October. Not just the trees, but the entire town also turns red and gold, as everything is painted in the colors of fresh apples. This festival attracts both locals and foreign tourists. So go, pick some sweet flavored apples in Guba this autumn.

Azerbaijan is famous with a rich variety of apples. The most common varieties are Golden Delicious, Rainet, Semerenko, Granny Smith and others. The most expensive is the Gizil Ahmad variety.

Gizil Ahmad

These are unusually tasty, relatively small apples of bright red color with dense skin and fragrant aroma. Due to their high iron content, these apples are invaluable for children, pregnant women and those suffering from iron deficiency anemia.

Gizil Dad

The shape of the apples is round-conical. Besides they are chiseled and have dense, dry skin. If the growing conditions are quite favorable, then the skin automatically becomes a little rough, golden, light green color, which later acquires more yellowness.

Reinette Semerenko

Fruits are medium in size to a large, asymmetrical and smooth surface, peel of medium thickness, slightly oily, green and yellow-green harvest only after storing straw, covered with bloom. The flesh is green when harvested, hard, crunchy, juicy, sweet taste, and after storage white-yellow, soft, sweet, slightly fizzy, with great taste and pleasant aroma characteristic of this variety.

Granny Smith

Granny Smith apple has large fruits, often reaching a weight of 300 grams, round shape, with a glossy skin of bright green color. Sometimes half of an apple can be colored yellow-green or reddish, depending on the brightness of the sun.

Granny Smith has a hard and juicy white-green flesh, with a sweet-sour taste. Distinctive features of this variety - the lack of flavor and the preservation of the color of the pulp when cut, it does not darken.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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