Bite into a Peach - While You are in South Carolina

In this article, Dr Marianne Furtado de Nazareth recollects her wonderful experience of eating ripe South Carolina peaches. She realizes that South Carolina averages more than three times the amount (in pounds) of peaches harvested in Georgia in a typical season. Peaches do have many health benefits also as one large, juicy globe of peach delivers an impressive quantity of vitamin C and is a good source of vitamins A and B. It also offers three grams of fibre.

- Dr Marianne Furtado de Nazareth

Enjoying eating peaches has been part of my growing years in New Delhi. My father always took us to Gupta market, every Sunday to buy whatever fruit our heart desired. And in those days fruit was bought by the basket and not by the kilo like today! But, it was only when I went to the USA and stayed with my son in South Carolina did the wonder of the fruit that the peach is, come back to me. The soft and furry fruit took on a whole new meaning after I bit into a completely ripe, orangey red peach, which was larger than my fist size. Standing over the sink I slurped my way through its goldy yellow flesh with its juice running down my chin! That has been an experience I can replicate a hundred times over and never tire of the wonder of eating a ripe South Carolina peach.

Peaches can be enjoyed at any stage of ripening. Depending on your preference for firm, soft or somewhere in-between fruit. The softer the fruit becomes, the sweeter and juicier it will be when eaten. Peaches are always very fragrant when they are ripe. The red blush of a peach is beautiful, but it doesn’t indicate ripeness, just like in a Cardozo mango. A uniform yellow background colour with no green around the stem and a fragrant aroma are the qualities to look for when judging ripeness in peaches. Peaches need to ripen at room temperature. Do not refrigerate firm fruit—the low temperature will stop these fruits from ripening. Store peaches on the kitchen counter so they will reach your optimum preference for firmness. When the peaches are fully ripened or past maturity, then they may be placed in the refrigerator or even frozen for later use.