Is it possible to create a references from text?
It should be simple and straight forward as far as i understand. Below steps should solve the problem. You can solve it using Drupal Core itself and taxonomy module that comes with core.


Create a Content Type called "About Apples".
Add a text area field called "Apple Details".
Create a Vocabulary called "Apple Types"
Add a field called "apple type" , select field type as "term reference" and widget types as "Auto Complete term widget (Tagging)"


That's it ! You just created a content type called About apples which gives you a form to add Apple Details &amp; Auto Complete Category widget which stores new terms to Apple Types vocabulary and shows autocomplete results when user tries to add categories.