Apples, Appleseed, and Cider

Find out about apples, Johnny Appleseed, apple cider, and the history of apples, with info from "Botany of Desire" by Pollan.

Links:
"Botany of Desire" by Michael Pollan: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375760393/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=q...
Salt (part 1) 6:45: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n15PaKLf8i0
Salt (part 2) 6:02: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5Lc3kdeyAw

All pictures are under a creative commons license. Links to pictures available upon request.

Clarification about treatment of cyanide poisoning:

While there are antidotes that can help you recover from cyanide poisoning, past a certain dose, a person will most likely die. -- Sorry about the confusion. My mistake. Sorry!!!

"[I]n chemical exposure or drug overdose the most common treatment is supportive only. In the case of cyanide, there is a surfeit of antidotes: regrettably, there is an international difference of opinion as to which is the most effective. . . In ingestion, whether accidental (plant cyanogens, etc.) or with homicidal intent, the dose is inclined to be large and very markedly supralethal [above the lethal dose]. When individuals do survive to emergency care, then gastric lavage will remove any remaining cyanide in the stomach and the administration of activated charcoal will help to prevent any further absorption. Further treatment should be supportive and with the preferred antidote. http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/54/2/82.full.pdf

"Human cyanide poisoning is associated with a mortality rate of 95% . . . However, victims ingesting as much as 3 g of KCN have been saved with immediate therapy . . . The morbidity or mortality depends upon the magnitude of poisoning, which varies with the dose and form of cyanide and the route of poisoning." http://medind.nic.in/ibi/t00/i2/ibit00i2p94.pdf

more info: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/832840-treatment and http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/idlh/74908.HTML

Category:

Education

Tags:

• SPimpernel1
• apples
• Johnny Appleseed
• fruit
• facts
• Appleseed
• history of apples
• cider
• apple cider
• apple history
• botany of desire
• Michael Pollan
• food facts

[rlarue1]

Great channel, I love random trivia, especially with a lovely host such as yourself. Where have you been all my life?!

[SPimpernel1]

@rlarue1 I've been reading! :)

[psionicdreams]

btw, do you have a favorite?

usually i choos the granny smith (tho they can be a bit fierce, as my mum says ;) but now i'm choosing british varieties cos while i like the gs they often come from as far away as south africa/s.america. i'm not to keen on the idea of eating apples flown in from the other side of the planet when there's perfectly good tasty apples right here where i live. and the taste good too :)

[SPimpernel1]

@psionicdreams That's a good point. It's good to buy local.

I am working my way though eating all of the apples I bought for this video. I like tart and/or crisp apples. I like Fuji and Gala, but a new favorite is the Empire. The Empire apple that I had was Amazing!!! I would recommend trying that one.

[psionicdreams]

i've read that some apples have so much sugar in them that they can cause tooth decay. personally i find that one apple every couple of days works wonders on the... er... it makes life a lot easier in the... i can't say it.

but apples are a very good source of fibre. (fiber?)

:)

[SPimpernel1]

@psionicdreams Yes, the new types of apples can have a lot of sugar in them. They can also have high acidity which can be bad for your teeth too.

And . . . . *coughcough* . . . . I hadn't heard about that before with apples, but it wouldn't surprise me. Fruit can have . . . many health benefits. :)

[Selinor578]

@psionicdreams I believe it is not the sugar that causes tooth decay...it is the bacteria that come and feed on the sugar that causes the actual decay.

[SPimpernel1]

@jazzviolao Glad to help! And it is a good story, although it is hard to verify other Appleseed stories.

[jazzviolao]

yay! i tell this story (about johnny appleseed really spreading alcohol as opposed to food) all the time. i had heard it second-hand, and i'm glad to finally know what the original source material probably was. thanks!

[SPimpernel1]

@Fredthe99th Hahahaha!!!!! Oh no!!!! :(