The evidence of medicinal properties of the forgotten tree species which is almost completely extinct in Europe was attributed, as it often happens, to a mere coincidence. When Zivota Nikolic in 2012 on his visit to his hometown near Vrnjacka Banja tried unsuccessfully to combat a flu virus with various over-the-counter medication in order to be able to travel back to America, where he lived at the time, he received by chance a recommendation to also try a homemade wild apple “vinegar”. He recovered in only a few hours and embarked on an airplane determined to do everything possible to make the product of this neglected and inedible fruit recognized and available as a universal “emergency aid” in our country and around the world.
He did not forget to take with him the “vinegar” sample that restored his strength. Upon his return to his home in Texas, Zivota sent a small amount of this preparation to a laboratory analysis in Dallas. They promptly called him and asked him to explain the composition of this liquid. They could not believe that, apart from the sugar that accelerates fermentation, nothing has been added to the preparation considering that a large number of amino acids in a free state cannot be obtained without the addition of other substances. Zivota was no less surprised by this discovery. He realized that actually, it was not a vinegar at all, but an elixir. That aroused his curiosity but also entrepreneurial spirit. Quite enough for the first step.
He was already back in Serbia in 2013 in order to buy out wild apples and make the healing elixir that he would sell throughout America. The year was exceptionally fruitful and very soon a word spread out among fruit picker workers in Vrnjacka Banja area about the “American” and his plan, and in the end, 500 tons of wild apples were processed, and Zivota obtained the first amounts of his elixir and tea.
– In our product made from the wild apple, there are 16 amino acids – 8 are essential and 8 are non-essential. We can influence the volume and quantity, so we are able to increase or reduce amino acids according to the needs. The free-form amino acids differ from the amino acids found in proteins precisely because they are not correlated and due to this fact, they work faster and in a different way. They are actually acids for emergency relief because when injuries occur, they get on the scene and accelerate the healing. This is where the value of our product is – says Zivota, emphasizing that the “production” of the preparation is not a short-term nor always a safe job, as it takes 300 days for apple fermentation, and from the moment of picking/ harvesting the fruit until obtaining the finished product passes a full year, and currently the amount of fruit exclusively depends on weather conditions and the year’s fertility. Zivota’s goal is to preserve the wild apple as a variety and that weather conditions do not interfere with its cultivation; therefore, he plans to plant seedlings.
This apple variety was almost entirely extinct in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria because it is completely useless in the forest – it has no value either as a tree or as a fruit. Only Romanians plant the wild apple. In the Carpathians, where strong winds blow, they afforest the area with this species, because it is the only one that can survive in a harsh climate. Surprisingly, it was preserved as a species in our country. It can be found in Macedonia, Bosnia, Bulgaria. It is not only preserved in our country, but it also doesn’t grow anywhere as much as it does in our country.
It is interesting that the fruit of the wild apple cannot be wormy or rotten because it contains an acid that serves as the natural preservative and also as the natural protection from flies and worms. Although this apple is not edible, sometimes its frozen fruits laying on the ground are a real feast for hungry forest animals.
Unlike its cultivated relative, the wild apple has between 8 and 10 percent of sugar, and the concentration depends on multiple factors – the year, 
rainfall, altitude, and others. Precisely because it does not contain a lot of sugar, which would interfere with the process of creation of amino acids, with an abundance of yeast wild apple even continues to “live” in the packaging of Zivota’s supplements. That is why he calls his products the living fluid.
– Wild apple is a self-sustaining species. It contains everything to survive. Hence its remarkable composition and effectiveness. It goes without saying that the wild apple does not need to be sprayed. Simply there is no need for that. On the other hand, we do not see yet the real effect of excessive spraying of domesticated fruit. Perhaps in the next fifty years, we will see the true extent of uncontrolled use of chemicals. I believe that people also do not read the instruction manual when using insecticides and other chemicals, but if you find dead sparrows under the cherry tree that you sprayed with the product purchased in an agricultural pharmacy, it is obvious that the problem is not only in measurement, concentration, and poor handling. I think that such a product should not even be on sale, – Zivota warns and states that we should have more trust in the knowledge that is passed on from generation to generation in comparison to imported products.
Prepared by: Tamara Zjacic
You can read the entire text in the tenth issue of the Energy Portal Magazine SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, in March 2018.
