Kazakhstan, the wild apple’s Eden

The modern apple is a product of centuries of travel, trade, and hybridization. Bears, horses, and other large mammals, as well as birds, feast on the fallen fruit, carrying seeds in their stomachs and naturally spreading the seeds beyond the Tien Shan. Silk Road travelers—feeding apples to their horses, discarding the cores along roadsides, or deliberately planting their seeds—spread the apples further westward. Over centuries, the apples reached Europe and with settlers sailing to the New World, made their way to the Americas.The trees that took root, however, either from deliberate planting or from discarded apple cores, did not grow in isolation: they cross-pollinated with other wild species, leading to an incredible amount of genetic diversity along the way.

In particular, the Malus sieversii hybridized with the European crabapple (Malus sylvestris). The sieversii genes made these apples large and appealing, while the crab-apple genes contributed to the fruit’s firmness, tartness, and resilience. This hybridization, in combination with selective breeding over thousands of years to refine the apples’ traits for larger size, better flavor, and firmness, led to the birth of the modern apple. Analysis reveals that about 46 percent of the domestic apple genome comes from the Kazakhstan population of the Malus sieversii, while 21 percent comes from the European crabapple, Malus sylvestris. The other 33 percent of the domestic apple's genome comes from uncertain origins.

While apples have long been cherished in mythology and storytelling, it wasn’t until the early 20th century that the slopes of the Tien Shan were recognized as the fruit’s ancestral home.  Famed Russian botanist Nikolai Vavilov was the first to identify the Malus sieversii as the progenitor of the domestic apple, Malus domestica, in forests near what was then Alma-Ata (present-day Almaty). In 1929, when Vavilov discovered this wild Eden, the region’s forests were thick and their harvests bountiful.  Vavilov’s observations that all domestic apples may originate from Almaty have since been confirmed by modern genetic research.

Unfortunately, domesticated apple orchards have overtaken much of the land where Malus sieversii once thrived, resulting in widespread feral hybrids as the various apple trees mix. Many of these orchards stem from Kazakhstan’s days as part of the Soviet Union (1936 to 1991), when local residents intentionally grafted domesticated apple branches onto wild apple rootstocks to create more specialized and sought-after apple breeds. Logging in the area was also quite intense, destroying 80 percent of the wild apple forests.

Vavilov’s outspoken belief in genetic diversity put him at odds with Soviet authorities, and in the 1940s he was arrested under false accusations, dying in prison in 1943.The botanist’s discovery was largely forgotten during the Soviet era, only to be revived in 1989 when one of his last surviving students, looking for help in saving the Malus sieversii, invited American plant scientists to see the trees firsthand—some over 300 years old and 50 feet tall.

Back in Almaty, the legacy of the wild apple remains a point of pride and celebration. The city’s name comes from the Kazakh word alma, meaning “apple,” and is often translated as “Father of Apples.” A gigantic granite apple statue – the Fountain of Desire – watches over the city from a hillside park, and local markets brim with vendors selling dozens of apple varieties.

Returning to the ancient forests where the apple’s journey first began may provide answers to ensure that apple farming, a $50 billion global industry, will flourish for future generations. These forests, with their untouched genetic combinations, could prove essential to addressing new problems such as apple diseases that occur less frequently in these native trees due to their isolation.

Malus sieversii is classified as ‘vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List (last assessed in 2007), with its population ‘decreasing’. Threats to the few remaining forests include residential and commercial development, livestock farming, deforestation and climate change. Conservation efforts include:

• The Alma Project, a joint initiative between the Kazakh National Agrarian Research University and the German Federal Environmental Foundation, aimed at preserving the biodiversity of endemic apple trees and Malus sieversii varieties;
• Protected areas such as Ile-Alatau National Park, located just 25 miles south of Almaty, that safeguard remaining patches of wild apple habitat;
• Ecotourism opportunities, including guided excursions from local operators to learn about Malus sieversii and the differences between modern and wild apple varieties.