Apple seed

Each apple contains up to ten small, pointed-oval seeds, about 7 to 10 mm long, set in five papery chambers around the core. They are glossy, dark brown to nearly black, with a smooth, hard coat and a pale, oily kernel. Apple trees themselves are deciduous, 2 to 12 metres tall depending on rootstock, with pink-white blossom and round fruit.

The kernel tastes bitter, with a faint almond-like note. Seeds are not sold as food, but are collected from fruit processors for nursery propagation, rootstock production and for pressed seed oil, which is used in cosmetics. Whole seeds swallowed by accident are normally excreted intact because of their tough seed coat.

The domestic apple descends mainly from Malus sieversii, a wild apple of the Tian Shan mountains in Central Asia, in present-day Kazakhstan and neighbouring countries, with later contributions from other wild apples picked up along the trade routes of the Silk Road, including the European crabapple. Trees were carried west and east by travellers and traders and domesticated over thousands of years.

The word apple descends from Old English æppel and has relatives across Germanic and Slavic languages. Malus is the Latin word for apple tree, and domestica indicates the cultivated form.

Apples have been central to many cultures, but the seed has a more modest story. Because apples do not breed true from seed, each seedling gives a different fruit, and most are small and sour. For that reason, cultivated varieties have long been multiplied by grafting rather than planted from seed, a technique known in ancient China and the Mediterranean.

In North America in the early 19th century, John Chapman, known as Johnny Appleseed, planted nurseries of apple seedlings across the frontier. Much of the fruit was suited to making cider rather than eating, and the seedlings were sold to settlers who needed to establish orchards to claim land. The story is a reminder that growing from seed gave great diversity, and that many of today's heirloom varieties began as chance seedlings.

In the 20th century and beyond, attention to the seed focused on its chemistry. The kernel contains amygdalin, which was studied by chemists and appeared in public warnings, and it became part of popular fact-checking about whether apple seeds are dangerous. Researchers have measured amygdalin levels in seeds of different varieties and found considerable variation. Apple seed oil is a minor ingredient in natural cosmetics today.

The principal use is propagation: seeds are stratified in the cold and sown to produce rootstocks and breeding seedlings, as well as to grow cider-apple trees. Pressed oil from the seeds appears in some cosmetic products. Seeds are not a recognised food or spice, and cooks routinely remove the core.

One culinary trace remains: in some regions, whole apples are cooked with cores and seeds to add flavour to jellies and ciders, and the seeds are strained out afterwards.

Apple seeds have no recognised nutritional role, and there is no sound evidence of health benefit from eating them. The apple flesh and skin provide fibre, vitamin C and polyphenols, and apple consumption is linked to good diet quality. Claims on social media that apple seeds fight disease are not supported, and the seed's chemistry is relevant mainly as a safety matter.