Malus sylvestris
1 association assessed — none with dependable human evidence behind them yet. Strongest first.
Small, hard, intensely sour apples from wild and ornamental Malus trees. Too astringent to eat raw in quantity, so they are almost always cooked into jelly, chutney or verjuice, where their high pectin content is the point.
Also known as Crab apple, Wild apple
What each association actually rests on, and the papers behind it. A rating describes the state of the research, not how impressive the food is. How we rate evidence.
Apple polyphenols and pectin have been studied for lipid effects, but always in dessert apples or isolated pectin. Crabapples themselves have no human research behind them, and the amounts eaten are small.
Insufficient evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.
Answers are written only from the entries on this page — the same nutrients, compounds, claims and citations you can read above. Nothing is added from outside the database, and every answer lists what it was built from.
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| Nutrient | Amount | % DV |
|---|---|---|
| Macronutrients | ||
| Calories | 76 kcal | 4% |
| Protein | 0.4 g | 1% |
| Total fat | 0.3 g | 0% |
| Carbohydrate | 19.9 g | 7% |
| Water | 78.9 g | — |
| Fats | ||
| Saturated fat | 0.048 g | 0% |
| Monounsaturated fat | 0.012 g | — |
| Polyunsaturated fat | 0.088 g | — |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0% |
| Linoleic acid (omega-6) | 0.073 g | — |
| Vitamins | ||
| Vitamin A | 2 µg | 0% |
| Vitamin C | 8 mg | 9% |
| Thiamin (B1) | 0.03 mg | 3% |
| Riboflavin (B2) | 0.02 mg | 2% |
| Niacin (B3) | 0.1 mg | 1% |
| Vitamin B12 | 0 µg | 0% |
| Minerals | ||
| Calcium | 18 mg | 1% |
| Iron | 0.36 mg | 2% |
| Magnesium | 7 mg | 2% |
| Phosphorus | 15 mg | 1% |
| Potassium | 194 mg | 4% |
| Sodium | 1 mg | 0% |
| Copper | 0.067 mg | 7% |
| Manganese | 0.115 mg | 5% |
| Other measured compounds | ||
| Ash | 0.42 g | — |
Nutrient values are per 100 g of the USDA reference entry named on this page and vary with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.
Source record: Crabapples, raw (USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 171721).
% DV uses the FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged 4 and over. A dash means no Daily Value has been established for that nutrient.
Compounds present in meaningful amounts. Presence is banded rather than quantified, because whole-food levels vary enormously with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.
Flavonol
A widely distributed flavonol, concentrated in onions, capers and apples. One of the most-studied dietary flavonoids, mostly at supplemental doses…
Polyphenol (class)
An umbrella term for thousands of plant phenolic compounds. Useful as a category, but a "high polyphenol" figure says nothing about which compounds…
Soluble fibre
The gelling soluble fibre of apples, citrus peel and many fruits.
High enough that crabapples are used to set jams made from low-pectin fruit.
Polyphenol
Astringent polyphenols that bind proteins and minerals — the reason tea with a meal reduces non-heme iron absorption.
Responsible for the mouth-drying astringency.
Only effects with real support are listed. If a preparation method is missing, it is because nothing dependable is documented — not because it makes no difference.
Cooking with sugar softens the perceived astringency and extracts pectin into the liquid, which is why crabapples are used as a setting agent. Vitamin C is largely lost in the same step.
Allergies, interactions and intake concerns. Every food gets this section — a reference where everything is uniformly good is not a reference.
Avoid
Like all apple pips, crabapple seeds release small amounts of cyanide when crushed. Because crabapples are often processed whole in quantity, recipes conventionally strain out the seeds rather than mill them.
Allergy
Malus fruit carries the Mal d 1 protein that cross-reacts with birch pollen, producing oral itching in sensitised people. Cooking, which is how crabapples are usually eaten, destroys most of it.
Worth knowing
Many street and garden crabapples are ornamental selections chosen for blossom rather than fruit, and may have been sprayed on a non-food schedule. Foraged fruit from amenity plantings is worth thinking about on those grounds.