When you bite into a large, sweet apple from the neighbourhood grocery store, it's easy to take the qualities of our modern fruits for granted. We hardly consider the long history of both random and deliberate migration and modification that produced the seemingly flawless apples we enjoy today.
Were the apples of our past always so tasty? How much have apples changed, and where did they come from? In the heart of Central Asia, nestled among Kazakhstan's majestic Tian Shan mountains, lies one of nature's most remarkable treasures: the last remaining wild apples of the world—the Malus sieversii. The journey to uncover the origins of the apple takes us to Almaty, Kazakhstan's vibrant capital, whose very name, derived from the Kazakh word Almatau for "apple mountain," hints at the city's deep-rooted connection to these fruits.