Tip-Top Apples in Aksu

5 min read

Aksu means “limpid water”in the Uygur language. Located in south Xinjiang, it has had the reputation of “lush southern-type fields north of the Great Wall”and “the land of melon and fruit”since ancient times. The land has pleasant climate, level terrain, fertile soil, plentiful water, sufficient sunshine and long frost free period. The land is a good tourist destination and a good growing place for kinds of crops. There are red dates, thin-hull walnuts, apples, apricots, pears, grapes, melons and other special agricultural foods, andthe most renowned is “rocky candy heart”apple. Visitors to Xinjiang may all eat rocky candy apples while enjoying the magic land and this is the mystery of Aksu and the charm of apples in Aksu.

If we evaluate apples in Aksu, you may think that we are doing propaganda or”nonsense”. Let us see the reputation gained by it! The “rocky candy heart”apple in Aksu has won gold awards in many apple assessments in China, and is sold well in Hongkong, Macao, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Russia and other countries and regions; in 1992, it won the honorary certificate on the 48th annual meeting of APEC; in 1993, it won the”Certificate of Green Food”of China; in 2001, it was rated as “famous brand of Xin jiang agricultural products”and rated as “Recommending Commodities”by Association of Consumers. In 2007, among fruits recommended by the more than 480 places fromll countries and regions, Aksu “rocky candy heart”apple won the only first prize in fruit in the”Recommending Fruit Assessment Activity for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games”held in Beijing. The followings are why Aksu “rocky candy heart”apple has a well-deserved reputation.

Aksu apple in Xinjiang is known as “queen of fruit”in the world with big and regular shape, bright color and smooth and delicate appearance. The pleasant looking appearance is sufficient to make people salivate. Compared with ordinary apples,”candy hearts Aksu”issweet to the pit of the stomach; regular consumption can help digestion, and moisten and care your skin. Among the”candy hearts Aksu”apples,”rocky candy heart”apples are only produced in Aksu Hongqipo Farm on the south foot of Mt. Tianshan and the northern margin of the Tarim Basin. The climate characteristics of large temperature difference between day and night, frost free period all year and long-term sunshine help form Aksu “rocky candy heart”apples famous inside and outside Xinjiang.

People may ask why the apples are named “rocky candy heart”. This is because that the sugar content in this kind of apples is the highest among those of all the other apples, and the sugar content of some part of the pit is so high that it looks crystal. Therefore, the apple is named”rocky candy heart”. These “rocky candy hearts”often form various regular patterns with some like petals and others like snowflakes, which is one of the distinctive symbols different from red Fuji apples produced in other regions. When apples become ripe, walk in the apple orchard, look at the fruitful branches around you, and the red and brightapples cluster every three or five, and you may think that they are ripe and falling off. Do not hesitate. Just pick several apples, and scrub them to eat. Seen under the sunshine, these apples seem like semi-crystal apples, and when you bite it, you must hear the extremely crispy sound. Then, the excessive sweetness with the exciting chemical component flow into your heart, and you cannot help exclaiming-so sweet! Yes, apples in Aksu are just so sweet.”Rocky candy heart”is gaining favor in consumers because of its natural color and luster, good appearance, fresh and succulent pulp, fragrance, the unique and crispy taste and thin skin, and unmatched quality. Relying on the good product awareness and brandreputation,”rocky candy heart”has become a “free word name card”of Aksu and even of Xinjiang.

People may ask that why apples in Aksu are so crispy with so much water content?

Besides the unique geological conditions, there is another important reason that the picking time of apples in Aksu is controlled in October every year and the picking time of apples in inland China is controlled in August or September. The growing period of apples in Aksu is fully extended and apples are picked under low temperature conditions, which make the water content sufficient enough.

You may also ask that why apples in Aksu are so bright? This is because that Aksu belongs to warm temperate arid climate with the annual temperature at 7℃to 8℃ and little rainfall but plentiful water yield. In Aksu, there are Aksu Xindahe River, Laodahe River and Duolang River which never gets frozen for a long time, and the annual runoff volume is 11.4 billion cubic meters. There are 500 million cubic meters of underground water and the natural rivers，lakes，man-made channels and reservoir compose the densely distributed networks of rivers.In the growing period of fruits，there are extremely few occurrences of plant diseases and insect pests.In addition，the dry climate and little rainfall make it hard for the mould to form which reduces the chance of plant diseases and insect pests，and the eroding by mould and pesticides.Therefore，apples in Aksu have smooth and delicate surface and bright and natural color and luster.

It is well known that”an apple a day keeps the doctor away”.It is no longer necessary to emphasize the edibleness of apples.However，with the appearance of counterfeit and shoddy products，”rocky candy heart”cannot avoid being harmed.If you want to taste theauthentic Aksu apples，you need to select carefully.The authentic Aksu apples have the unique oval fruit with bevel on the sunny side；the surface has natural colors with the background being yellow-green and the natural transition of yellow，green，and red on theentire fruit surface；there are subtle fruit dots on the surface；the surface will become brighter as being polished with a layer of natural wax and no rough and hand scraping feeling，which is not available in other similar fruits；after being cut，it is suffused withslightly yellowish flesh；it has a unique，rich and pleasant flavor；the pulp is tender，juicy and sweet，crisp and refreshing，with appropriate sweetness and sourness；and it has a thincover.Of course，the most simple identification method is to crosscut the fruit and look，and the kernels of the real”rocky candy hearts”are like honey crystal due to more sugar accumulation，which cannot be counterfeit and copied by other red Fuji apples.