Healthy And Tasty Fruit

Apricots grow in the apricot tree, whose height ranges from 8–12 m (26–39 ft), having trunk of up to 40 cm in diameter. Apricot fruit is a drupe and its similarities to the peach are evident. In fact, the ripe apricot with its hues varying from golden yellow to orange looks similar to a small peach. The unripe apricot is green in colour.

Its size usually varies between 1.5 - 2.5 cm in diameter and its taste can vary from sweet to tart. Apricot can be consumed in both fresh and dried forms. The fruit has a single ‘stone’ within its fleshy interiors and within the stony shell is enclosed a single seed. Treating the commercially grown dried apricots with sulphur dioxide gas during processing stage is fairly common. When treated with sulphur dioxide, the colour of apricots turns to deep orange. However, the organic apricots, which are not treated with sulphur vapour, are darker in hues.

Origin and Production

The origins of apricot are wrapped in enigma, though it is widely believed that these fruits originated in China, some 3000 years ago. Apricots are believed to have arrived in the western world first in Armenia, and from there their usage spread to the rest of the European continent. The scientific name of this fruit is Prunus armeniaca (Armenian plum), which perhaps derives from this assumption. The use of apricots in ancient Greece (since the times of Alexander the Great), and in the ancient Persia is also evident. Apricots are believed to have arrived in India during the 2nd century AD and in the US during the 18th century. In India, apricots are commercially cultivated in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh. To some extent, apricots are commercially cultivated in north-eastern states too. The Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir grows most apricots in the country.