Apple pastila is a traditional fruit confectionery with a long history in Russian and East European home cooking. It is made mainly from apples: the fruit is cooked into a puree and then gently dried at a low temperature until it becomes a soft, chewy piece. Because the drying is slow, the apple aroma is preserved better than with harsher heat processing.
The texture comes from pectin, a soluble fibre naturally present in apples. During drying, pectin helps the puree set into a dense, slightly elastic structure. This is why pastila is tender and chewy rather than hard or brittle. It is quite different from marshmallow-type sweets, which usually rely on gelatine or egg whites and a large amount of sugar, and from many ordinary fruit candies that contain added flavourings and preservatives.
In this product, the taste is meant to come from the fruit itself. The description states that no extra sugar, artificial flavourings or preservatives are added during production. However, the natural sugars in apples become more concentrated as water is removed, so the finished pastila is still noticeably sweet.
Because this is an assortment, the package may contain different variants. The individual pieces may differ slightly, so if you avoid certain fruits or ingredients, check the labelling on the piece or package before eating.