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You are here: Home | Apples and Health | About Apples | Varieities

Apple Varieities

There are thousands of apple varieties that have evolved throughout history, but today there are about 50 varieties grown commercially throughout the world. Not all varieties are good for all purposes and some varieties have unique characteristics for specialty uses. Most consumers are familiar with fresh apple varieties that are most commonly found at the grocery store and used for a fresh eating. Varieties are classified as follows:

• For fresh eating
• For making apple sauce or juice
• Dual-purpose (used for eating or for making sauce or juice)

The first 10 varieties listed below are the largest by volume grown in the United States. Those marked with "#" are the ones that Mott's typically uses to make apple sauce and apple juice.

	Variety	Primary Usage	Characteristics
Photos with asterisks (*) courtesy of U.S. Apple Association. All others courtesy of New York Apple Association New York Apple Association.
	Red Delicious	Fresh	Sweet, juicy, crisp.
	Golden Delicious#	Dual purpose	Mildly sweet, juicy, crisp.
	Gala	Fresh	Mildly sweet, juicy, crisp.
	Granny Smith*	Dual purpose	Mildly tart, firm.
	Fuji	Fresh	Very sweet and juicy, very crisp.
	Rome	Sweet/Juice	Mildly tart, firm.
	McIntosh#	Dual Purpose	Sweet and tart, very juicy, tender.
	Jonathan*	Sauce/Juice	Tart, spicy tang, juicy, crisp.
	York Imperial# *	Sauce/Juice	Mildly sweet, juicy, crisp.
	Idared#	Sauce/Juice	Sweetly tart, juicy, firm.
	Cortland	Dual purpose	Tart, tangy and very juicy.
	Rhode Island Greening#	Sauce/Juice	Tart, greenish/yellow skin.
	Twenty Ounce	Sauce/Juice	Tart, firm, and juicy.
	Crispin	Dual purpose	Sweet, crisp, juicy, refreshing.
	Jonagold	Dual purpose	Sweet-tart, crisp and juicy.

Many of the varieties listed above, like Idared, York, Rhode Island Greening, and Twenty Ounce are varieties that deliver intense apple flavor in sauce and juice. Mott's^® purchases up to 20 other varieties and uses at least four to seven varieties each day to produce apple sauce. Visit our apple processing section for more information.

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