For thousands of years, man has enjoyed the taste of apples. Apples, which are about 85 percent water, grow almost everywhere in the world but the hottest and coldest areas.Among the leading countries in apple production are China, France and the United States.        There are various kinds of apples but a very few make up the majority of those grown for sale.The three most common kinds grown in the United States are Delicious, golden Delicious and McIntosh.        Apples are different in color1, size and taste.The color1 of the skin may be red, green or yellow.They have various sizes with Delicious apples being among the largest.The taste may be sweet or tart  .Generally sweet apples are eaten fresh while tart apples are used to make applesauce.Apples can also be found in many foods (especially desserts) and drinks. Many beneficial health effects have been found from eating apples. However, the seeds are slightly poisonous.        Apple trees may grow as tall as twelve meters.They do best in areas that have very cold winters.Although no fruit is  _ during the winter this cold period is good for the tree.        At least 55 million tons of apples were grown worldwide in 2010, with a value of about $ 10 billion. China produced about 35% of this total. The United States was the second-leading producer, with more than 7.5% of world production. Iran was third, followed by Turkey, Russia, Italy and India. China, France and the United States are considered to  _  .
have the coldest winter among apple producing countries be large producers of applesauce have the longest history in apple production be large producers of apples