"You see these trees just loaded with apples, many different types of apples," said Forsline. Some are the size of small pumpkins, others barely larger than marbles or peas. The colors range from pale yellow to lime green to burgundy to rich cocoa brown.
Taste is another matter. Wild varieties of apple have a wide range of flavors, but most are unappetizing "spitters," said Forsline. Some wild apples have a stringent bitter taste, others are so dry they seem to draw extract water out of the tongue. A few are aromatic and sweet.
"The most unusual apple tasted like something between a banana and a hazelnut," said Forsline. "It was a unique taste—quite good in the beginning, and in the end it had an aftertaste that was not real pleasant." In one forest, Forsline was surprised to find wild apples that were almost of commercial quality.
Environment Counts
Forsline has collected apple seeds and twigs from environments ranging from deserts to rain forests throughout central Asia, including in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The purpose is to sample each species of apple.
"Apples develop their genetic traits based on the environments in which they have evolved," said Forsline.
If an apple tree grows in a desert area, for instance, its fruit may have traits such as drought resistance. In far northern areas, where temperatures can plummet to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 degrees Celsius), the trees have probably developed genes that offer protection against coldness. Apple trees in very wet sites are vulnerable to many diseases and have probably developed different kinds of resistance.
Of the 2,500 apple tree varieties in the USDA's Plant Genetic Resources Unit, about 200 are considered the "core collection." These core varieties are also grown at sites in North Carolina, Illinois, and Minnesota to learn how the various trees fare in different environments.
Forsline hopes that within the next few years, many breeders will be able to combine Kazakhstan apples that have desirable traits such as unusual hardiness with high-quality apple varieties.
"I would hope that within 10 to 15 years, the market would see some apples that have some of the Kazakhstan [apple] genes in them," he said. "That's an optimistic approach."
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