Released September 10, 2009
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Should parents panic if children decide to eat the tempting fruit dangling from an ornamental crabapple tree?
“Probably not. Unless, perhaps, the crabapple has been treated at some time since spring with a pesticide that isn't labeled for use on food-producing crops,” said Ward Upham, horticulturist with Kansas State University Research and Extension.
As with apples from an orchard, children can eat so many crabapples that they make themselves sick.
“That kind of stomachache isn’t likely to happen, though, because crabapples aren’t sweet-tasting fruit. They’ve never been bred to eat raw. Since Johnny Appleseed’s day, crabapples’ normal uses have been to make jelly, applesauce and cider,” Upham said.
In fact, the only real difference between crabapples and today’s tart-to-sour “cooking” apples is size.
“By definition, crabapple fruits are 2 inches or less in diameter. Apples are simply more than 2 inches across,” Upham said. “Interestingly, though, apples grown from seed -- as Johnny Appleseed’s were -- nearly always turn out to be crabapples. Today’s full-sized fruiting apple trees are all grafted.”
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http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/ksrenews/story/briefs091009.aspx
Editor: Elaine Edwards, elainee@ksu.edu
