Peach
Nectarine
Prunus persica
Prunus persica var.
nectarina
Family: Rosaceae
Family: Rosaceae
Description
& storage
Peach:
Round juicy fruit with downy yellowish-red skin and a rough stone.
Nectarine:
Type of peach with a thin smooth skin and firm flesh.
Peaches
and nectarines always have to be picked ripe. They do not ripe well after
they have been picked. You can keep peaches and nectarines for one to three
days but you have to be very carefull, one small bruise and it will go
bad on that spot.
Tree / shrub
The peach and nectarine trees
or shrubs grow upto 5 x 5 m. It is self pollinative and has an impressive
blossoming.
Darwin (1731-1802) noticed
that peach trees spontaneously produced nectarines and that this also happens
the other way around. He even describes a tree that produced a fruit that
was half peach half nectarine and later fell back producing peaches.
Short history
Peaches are from Chinese origin.
They go back to the 10th century B.C. and are often found on illustrations
from that time. The Chinese have developed an incredible amount of peach
of races.
The peach got it's name around
300 B.C. The greek philosopher Theophrastus thought it came from Persia
and named this lovely fruit to that country. In the first century the fruit
is mentioned by Romans who wrote that they imported the fruit from Persia.
It is supposed that the peach reached Europe around the year 0. In England
they don't show up before 1650 A.D.
Strange enough, the nectarine
is never mentioned in descriptions from the time Before Christ. Nectarines
are first mentioned in America in 1720 when they grew between the peach
trees in Virginia. A.J. Downing registred 19 nectarine races in America
in 1857.
Today many types
of nectarines are cultivated.
Use
Peaches and nectarines taste
best consumed "warm" from the tree. Often jam is made out of it because
they can't be stored fresh.
Nectarines are mostly eaten
with the skin as peaches are mostly peeled.
Types
and family
There are races with the stone
fixed to the pulp and races with a loose stone. The pulp varies in colour
from white to yellow and certain types have red stains.
The colour of it's skin varies
from green to dark-red.
Most remarkable characteristic
of the peach is it's downy skin.
Peculiar characteristics
If your
fruit crop is large and you don't know what to do with all those lovely
ripe peaches you can make jam out of it. You also can purate the peaches
to freeze them in for winter use; you can make a delicious chutney or you
can make juice out of it. Peach juice is nectar from the gods according to the Romans and it can
be freezed in as well!
never plant
a peach shrub or tree near an almond tree. As the peach is a brother of
the almond the two sorts are easily crossed. The result is bitter nuts;
Most peach
stones have little holes in it or have a ribbed structure;
Peach trees
or shrubs can easily be grown out of a peach stone;
Peach stones
are used to make the coal for filters;
If you
buy peaches look for ones with a creamy to gold undercolor that indicates
ripeness. The amount of red on peaches depends on the variety, it is not
always a sign of ripeness. Look for fruit that has a well-defined crease
and a good fragrance. Unripe peaches have a green undercolour and
will never ripen. Peaches and nectarines only ripen well on the tree.
Nutrition Facts
Selection
Recipes
Acidity
|
~ Peaches and Nectarines ~ 
