January, 1968

Vitamin 'C', or ascorbic acid, is essential for human health. The Nutrition Board, National Research Council, recommends a daily intake of 75 milligrams (mg) by the average adult. Children's doses range from 30 mg for the infant to 100 mg for the active boy between 16 and 20. An oversupply of vitamin 'C' to the body is considered harmless, even in multiples of the recommended values.

When an apple tree is growing normally the vitamin content of its fruit will primarily depend on the variety and on the weather. Specifically it depends on the sunlight striking the fruits during the period immediately before picking time. Shaded fruits will contain less vitamin 'C' than more exposed fruits. Within the apple, vitamin 'C' is concentrated in the flesh right under the skin, and decreases towards the core. These variables may explain why research findings are occasionally confusing and incongruent.

The listing below is based on a number of sources and gives average and interrelated values. It is evident that many apple varieties are "good", some even "excellent" sources of this health preserving vitamin.

Vitamin "C" (Ascorbic Acid) Content in mgs per 100 grams of fruit
Ananas Rtte	21	Kelly No. 1	9	Ribston	16
Arkansas Black	12	King of the Pippin	21	Rome Beauty	17
Baldwin	16	King of Tompkins County	14	Roxbury Russet	6
Berlepsch	24	King David	22	Secor	8
Ben Davis	8	Limbertwig	14	Spartan	8
Blenheim Orange	15	Lodi	10	Spigold	17
Boskoop	18	MacMahon	7	Stark	14
Brabant Bellflower	20	Maiden Blush	5	Stayman	6
Britemac	8	Mantet	10	Transparent of Croncels	26
Cortland	15	McIntosh	6	Tolman Sweet	12
Court Pendu	21	Melba	12	Twenty Ounce	24
Cox Orange	16	Milton	9	Wegener	19
Elliot	28	Monroe	10	Wealthy	15
Empire	15	Mother	8	White Winter Calville	25
Esopus Spitzenberg	24	Niagara	12	Winesap	25
Fall Pippin	3	Northern Spy	18	Winter Banana	20
Fameuse (Snow)	8	Ontario	22	Winter St.Lawrence	10
Golden Delicious	23	Pewaukee	8	Wolf River	3
Gravenstein	5	Porter	6	Yellow Bellflower	15
Greening	19	Pumkin Sweet	5	Yellow Transparent	11
Grimes Golden	5	Rambo	10	Young America Crab	13
Hyslop Crab	20	Red Astrachan	6	Ottawa 292	17
James Grieve	9	Red Delicious	13	Ottawa 294	7
Jonathan	19