Long thought to be a cross between a peach and a plum, the
nectarine (Prunus persica var. nectarina) is actually a distinct
fruit of its own. Like peaches, the nectarine probably originated
in Western Asia more than 2000 years ago, after which it was
introduced and cultivated in ancient Persia, Greece and Rome.
The Greeks greatly appreciated the juice of the fruit, naming
it the “drink of the gods” or nektar, the word
from which the name nectarine is derived. Rome introduced
the fruit to Western Europe, and the Spanish later took it
to the Western Hemisphere.
Description:
The nectarine and the peach are separated by one recessive
gene – the one that produces the fuzz. One prominent
botanist, Luther Burbank, has argued that the nectarine actually
predated the peach, and is in fact the ancestral form of both
fruits. Nectarines originally were small, white fleshed fruit
with skins ranging in color from green to red or yellow. Cross
breeding has since produced large fruit that is either white
or yellow fleshed, with red or red/yellow skins. Like peaches,
nectarines are classified according to whether the stone or
pit adheres to the flesh (clingstone), falls out easily when
the fruit is cut in half (freestone), or is in-between (semi-freestone).
Dried nectarines are produced from the freestone varieties
of nectarines, both yellow and white fleshed, which are dried
as halves. They offer a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin
B3 (niacin), potassium, phosphorus, beta carotene, iron and
copper. As with peaches, nectarines do not keep or store well
when fresh. Thus, dried nectarines have been gaining popularity
among fruit and nut packers. Bedemco sources the best dried
nectarines available for the North American market at the
most competitive prices.
Harvest:
Argentina and South Africa both harvest nectarines in the
spring, with new crop dried fruit coming to market in early
summer.
Origin: