An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus '' Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also called apricots.

Etymology

''Apricot'' first appeared in English in the 16th century as ''abrecock'' from the Middle French ''aubercot'' or later ''abricot'', from Spanish '' albaricoque'' and

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

''a(l)bercoc'', in turn from Arabic الْبَرْقُوق (al-barqūq, "the plums"), from Byzantine Greek βερικοκκίᾱ (berikokkíā, "apricot tree"), derived from late Greek ''πραικόκιον'' (''praikókion'', "apricot") from Latin '' ersica ("peach")praecocia'' (''praecoquus'', "early ripening").

Species

Apricots are species belonging to ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca''. The taxonomic position of '' P. brigantina'' is disputed. It is grouped with plum species according to chloroplast DNA sequences, but more closely related to apricot species according to nuclear DNA sequences. * ''

Prunus armeniaca ''Prunus armeniaca'' is the most commonly cultivated apricot species. The native range is somewhat uncertain due to its extensive prehistoric cultivation. Genetic studies indicate Central Asia is the center of origin. It is extensively cultivate ...

'' – common apricot, widely cultivated for its edible fruit and

kernel Kernel may refer to: Computing * Kernel (operating system), the central component of most operating systems * Kernel (image processing), a matrix used for image convolution * Compute kernel, in GPGPU programming * Kernel method, in machine learni ...

* ''

Prunus brigantina ''Prunus brigantina'', called Briançon apricot (french: Abricotier de Briançon), Briançon plum (french: Prunier de Briançon), marmot plum (french: Marmottier), and Alpine apricot, is a wild tree species native to France and Italy. Its fruit i ...

'' – Briançon apricot, native to Europe, cultivated for its edible fruit and oil-producing

*''

Prunus cathayana ''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of South America, and the pale ...

'' - native to Hebei * ''Prunus'' × ''dasycarpa'' – purple apricot, cultivated in Central Asia and adjacent areas for its edible fruit * ''

Prunus hongpingensis ''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of South America, and the pale ...

'' – Hongping apricot, native to

Shennongjia Shennongjia Forestry District () is a county-level administrative unit (a "forestry district") in northwestern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, directly subordinated to the provincial government. It occupies in western Hubei, and, as of ...

, cultivated for its edible fruit * ''

Prunus hypotrichodes ''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of South America, and the pale ...

'' – native to

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Cou ...

* ''

Prunus limeixing ''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of South America, and the pale ...

'' – cultivated in northern China for its edible fruit * ''

Prunus mandshurica ''Prunus mandshurica'', also called Manchurian apricot and scout apricot, is a tree in the genus ''Prunus''. It was first described by Karl Maximovich in 1883 as a variety of the Siberian apricot (Tibetan apricot) '' Prunus armeniaca''. It is r ...

'' – Manchurian apricot, native to Northeast Asia, cultivated for its

, the fruits of some cultivars edible * '' Prunus mume'' – Japanese apricot, native to southern China, widely cultivated for its beautiful blossom and edible fruit * ''

Prunus sibirica ''Prunus sibirica'', called Siberian apricot (), is a species of shrub or small tree native to northern China, Korea, Mongolia, and eastern Siberia. It is in the genus ''Prunus'' in the rose family, Rosaceae, one of several species whose fruit ar ...

'' – Siberian apricot, native to Siberia, Mongolia, northern China, and Korea, cultivated for its

* ''

Prunus zhengheensis ''Prunus mume'' is an East Asian and Southeast Asian tree species classified in the ''Armeniaca'' section of the genus ''Prunus'' subgenus ''Prunus''. Its common names include Chinese plum, Japanese plum, and Japanese apricot. The flower, long ...

'' – Zhenghe apricot, native to Fujian

Description

The apricot is a small tree, tall, with a trunk up to in diameter and a dense, spreading canopy. The

leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

are

ovate Ovate may refer to: * Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts *Ovate, a type of prehistoric stone hand axe *Ovates, one of three ranks of membership in the Welsh Gorsedd *Vates In modern English, the nouns vates () and ova ...

, long, and wide, with a rounded base, a pointed tip, and a finely serrated margin. The flowers are in diameter, with five white to pinkish petals; they are produced singly or in pairs in early spring before the leaves. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) similar to a small peach, diameter (larger in some modern cultivars), from yellow to orange, often tinged red on the side most exposed to the sun; its surface can be smooth (botanically described as:

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

) or velvety with very short hairs (botanically:

pubescent The adjective pubescent may describe: * people or animals undergoing puberty * plants that are hairy, covered in trichomes * insects that are covered in setae In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a ...

). The flesh is usually succulent, but dry in some species such as '' P. sibirica''. Its taste can range from sweet to tart. The single seed or "

" is enclosed in a hard shell, often called a " stone", with a grainy, smooth texture except for three ridges running down one side.Flora of China
''Armeniaca''
/ref>Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins . Healthy leaves of apricot

Cultivation and uses

Origin and domestication

''Prunus armeniaca''

The most commonly cultivated apricot ''P. armeniaca'' was known in

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

during ancient times, and has been cultivated there for so long that it was previously thought to have originated there, hence the epithet of its scientific name. However, this is not supported by genetic studies, which instead confirm the hypothesis proposed by Nikolai Vavilov that domestication of ''P. armeniaca'' occurred in Central Asia and China. The domesticated apricot then diffused south to South Asia, west to West Asia (including Armenia), Europe and North Africa, and east to Japan.

''Prunus mume''

Japanese apricot '' P. mume'' is another widely cultivated apricot species, usually for ornamental uses. Despite the common name, it originated from China, and was introduced to Japan in ancient times.

Cultivation practices

Dried apricot fruits in the field (Fergana, Uzbekistan)

Apricots have a chilling requirement of 300 to 900 chilling units. A dry climate is good for fruit maturation. The tree is slightly more cold-hardy than the peach, tolerating winter temperatures as cold as or lower if healthy. They are hardy in USDA zones 5 through 8. A limiting factor in apricot culture is spring

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above- freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a ga ...

s: They tend to flower very early (in early March in western Europe), meaning spring frost can kill the flowers. Furthermore, the trees are sensitive to temperature changes during the winter season. In China, winters can be very cold, but temperatures tend to be more stable than in Europe and especially North America, where large temperature swings can occur in winter.

Hybridization Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to: *Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid *Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals *Nu ...

with the closely related ''

'' (Siberian apricot; hardy to but with less palatable fruit) offers options for breeding more cold-tolerant plants. They prefer well-drained soils with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. Apricot cultivars are usually

grafted Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the rootstock. The succ ...

onto plum or peach rootstocks. The cultivar

scion Scion may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities *Scion, a playable class in the game ''Path of Exile'' (2013) *Atlantean Scion, a device in the ''Tomb Raider'' video game series *Scions, an alien race in the video game '' B ...

provides the fruit characteristics, such as flavor and size, but the rootstock provides the growth characteristics of the plant. Some of the more popular US apricot cultivars are 'Blenheim', 'Wenatchee Moorpark', 'Tilton', and 'Perfection'. Some apricot cultivars are self-compatible, so do not require pollinizer trees; others are not: 'Moongold' and 'Sungold', for example, must be planted in pairs so they can pollinate each other. Hybridisors have created what is known as a "black apricot" or "purple apricot", ('' Prunus dasycarpa''), a hybrid of an apricot and the cherry plum (''

Prunus cerasifera __NOTOC__ ''Prunus cerasifera'' is a species of plum known by the common names cherry plum and myrobalan plum.plumcots, apriplums, pluots, or apriums.

Pests and diseases

Apricots are susceptible to various diseases whose relative importance differs in the major production regions as a consequence of their climatic differences. For example, hot weather as experienced in California's Central Valley often causes pit burn, a condition of soft and brown fruit around the pit. Bacterial diseases include bacterial spot and crown gall. Fungal diseases include brown rot caused by ''

Monilinia fructicola ''Monilinia fructicola'' is a species of fungus in the order Helotiales. A plant pathogen, it is the causal agent of brown rot of stone fruits. Stone fruit (summer fruit) Stone fruits such as apricot and peaches originated in China and spread th ...

'': infection of the blossom by rainfall leads to "blossom wilt" whereby the blossoms and young shoots turn brown and die; the twigs die back in a severe attack; brown rot of the fruit is due to ''Monilinia'' infection later in the season. Dieback of branches in the summer is attributed to the fungus ''

Eutypa lata Phomopsis cane and leaf spot occurs wherever grapes are grown. Phomopsis cane and leaf spot is more severe in grape-growing regions characterized by a humid temperate climate through the growing season. Crop losses up to 30% have been reported to ...

'', where examination of the base of the dead branch reveals a canker surrounding a pruning wound. Other fungal diseases are

black knot ''Dibotryon morbosum'' or ''Apiosporina morbosa'' is a plant pathogen, which is the causal agent of black knot. It affects members of the ''Prunus'' genus such as; cherry, plum, apricot, and chokecherry trees in North America. The disease produce ...

, ''Alternaria'' spot and fruit rot, and powdery mildew. Unlike peaches, apricots are not affected by

leaf curl Peach leaf curl is a plant disease characterized by distortion and coloration of leaves and is caused by the fungus '' Taphrina deformans'', which infects peach, nectarine, and almond trees. ''T. deformans'' is found in the United States, Europe ...

, and bacterial canker (causing sunken patches in the bark, which then spread and kill the affected branch or tree) and silver leaf are not serious threats, which means that pruning in late winter is considered safe.

Kernel

Due to their natural

amygdalin Amygdalin (from Ancient Greek: ' "almond") is a naturally occurring chemical compound found in many plants, most notably in the seeds (kernels) of apricots, bitter almonds, apples, peaches, cherries, and plums. Amygdalin is classified as a c ...

content culinary uses for the kernel are limited. Oil made from apricot kernels is safe for human consumption without treatment because amygdalin is not oil soluble. Ground up shells are used in

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...

as an exfoliant. As an exfoliant it provides an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic

microbeads Microbeads are manufactured solid plastic particles of less than one millimeter in their largest dimension. They are most frequently made of polyethylene but can be of other petrochemical plastics such as polypropylene and polystyrene. They are u ...

. Apricot kernels can be made into a plant milk.

Production

In 2020, world production of apricots was 3.72 million tonnes, led by Turkey with 22% of the total (table). Other major producers (in descending order) were Uzbekistan, Iran, Italy, and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

Turkey

Malatya is the center of Turkey's apricot industry.

Nutrition

In a 100-gram amount, raw apricots supply 48

Calories The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of on ...

and are composed of 11% carbohydrates, 1% protein, less than 1%

fat In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple est ...

, and 86% water (table). Raw apricots are a moderate source of vitamin A and vitamin C (12% of the Daily Value each).

Dried apricots

Dried apricots are a type of traditional dried fruit. The world's largest producer of dried apricots is Turkey. When treated with sulfur dioxide (E220), the color is vivid

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

Organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

fruit not treated with sulfur dioxide is darker in color and has a coarser texture. When apricots are dried, the relative concentration of nutrients is increased, with vitamin A,

vitamin E Vitamin E is a group of eight fat soluble compounds that include four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. Vitamin E deficiency, which is rare and usually due to an underlying problem with digesting dietary fat rather than from a diet low in vit ...

, potassium, and iron having Daily Values above 25% (table).

Phytochemicals

Apricots contain various phytochemicals, such as

provitamin A A provitamin is a substance that may be converted within the body to a vitamin. The term previtamin is a synonym. The term "provitamin" is used when it is desirable to label a substance with little or no vitamin activity, but which can be converted ...

beta-carotene and polyphenols, including

catechins Flavan-3-ols (sometimes referred to as flavanols) are a subgroup of flavonoids. They are derivatives of flavans that possess a 2-phenyl-3,4-dihydro-2''H''-chromen-3-ol skeleton. Flavan-3-ols are structurally diverse and include a range of compo ...

and

chlorogenic acid Chlorogenic acid (CGA) is the ester of caffeic acid and (−)-quinic acid, functioning as an intermediate in lignin biosynthesis. The term "chlorogenic acids" refers to a related polyphenol family of esters, including hydroxycinnamic acids (caffe ...

. Taste and aroma compounds include sucrose, glucose,

organic acids An organic acid is an organic compound with acidic properties. The most common organic acids are the carboxylic acids, whose acidity is associated with their carboxyl group –COOH. Sulfonic acids, containing the group –SO2OH, are rel ...

, terpenes,

aldehyde In organic chemistry, an aldehyde () is an organic compound containing a functional group with the structure . The functional group itself (without the "R" side chain) can be referred to as an aldehyde but can also be classified as a formyl group ...

s and lactones.

Apricot kernel An apricot kernel is the apricot seed located within the fruit endocarp, which forms a hard shell around the seed called the pyrena (stone or pit). The kernel contains amygdalin, a poisonous compound, in concentrations that vary between cultiv ...

s (seeds) contain

, a poisonous compound. On average, bitter apricot kernels contain about 5% amygdalin and sweet kernels about 0.9% amygdalin. These values correspond to 0.3% and 0.05% of

cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a ...

. Since a typical apricot kernel weighs 600 mg, bitter and sweet varieties contain, respectively, 1.8 and 0.3 mg of cyanide.

In culture

The apricot is the

national fruit This is list of national fruits alphabetically arranged by country. Some national fruits are officially designated, some are unofficial. References {{National symbols Fruit Fruits Fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing struc ...

, mostly growing in the Ararat plain. It is often depicted on souvenirs. The Chinese associate the apricot with education and medicine. For instance, the classical word 杏壇 (literally: "apricot

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism ...

") (xìng tán 杏坛) which means "educational circle", is still widely used in written language. Chuang Tzu, a Chinese philosopher in the fourth century BC, told a story that Confucius taught his students in a forum surrounded by the wood of apricot trees. The association with medicine in turn comes from the common use of apricot kernels as a component in traditional Chinese medicine, and from the story of Dong Feng (董奉), a physician during the Three Kingdoms period, who required no payment from his patients except that they plant apricot trees in his orchard upon recovering from their illnesses, resulting in a large grove of apricot trees and a steady supply of medicinal ingredients. The term "expert of the apricot grove" (杏林高手) is still used as a poetic reference to physicians. The fact that apricot season is short has given rise to the common Egyptian Arabic and Palestinian Arabic expression '' filmishmish'' ("in apricot

eason Eason is a surname. The name comes from Aythe where the first recorded spelling of the family name is that of Aythe Filius Thome which was dated circa 1630, in the "Baillie of Stratherne". Aythe ''filius'' Thome received a charter of the lands of F ...

) or ''bukra filmishmish'' ("tomorrow in apricot

), generally uttered as a riposte to an unlikely prediction, or as a rash promise to fulfill a request. In Middle Eastern and

North African cuisine Maghreb cuisine is the cooking of the Maghreb region, the northwesternmost part of Africa along the Mediterranean Sea, consisting of the countries of Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. Well-known dishes from the region includ ...

s, apricots are used to make

Qamar al-Din Qamar (Arabic: قمر) is an Arabic name used both as a masculine and feminine, which means the "Moon", "natural satellite", "moonlight" - a broader meaning is "brighter by the light of the moon". Qamar may refer to: * Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar a P ...

( "Moon of the Religion"), a thick apricot drink that is a popular fixture at Iftar during Ramadan. Qamar al-Din is believed to originate in

Damascus, Syria )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, where the variety of apricots most suitable for the drink was first grown. In

Jewish culture Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not a faith-based religion, but an orthoprax and ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, practice, and identity. Jew ...

, apricots are commonly eaten as part of the

Tu Bishvat seder A Tu BiShvat seder is a festive ceremony, often accompanied by a meal featuring fruits in honor of the Jewish holiday of Tu BiShvat. During the Middle Ages or possibly a little before that, this day started to be celebrated with a minor ceremony ...

. The Turkish idiom ''bundan iyisi Şam'da kayısı'' (literally, "the only thing better than this is an apricot in Damascus") means "it doesn't get any better than this". In the US Marines it is considered exceptionally bad luck to eat or possess apricots, especially near tanks. This superstition has been documented since at least the Vietnam War and is often cited as originating in World War II. Even calling them by their name is considered unlucky, so they are instead called "cots", "Forbidden fruit" or "A-fruit".

Gallery

File:Dried date, peach, apricot, and stones. From Lahun, Fayum, Egypt. Late Middle Kingdom. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg, Dried date, peach, apricot, and stones. From Lahun, Fayum, Egypt. Late Middle Kingdom. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London File:Marillenblüten.jpg, Blooms of an apricot File:Apricot kernel (endocarp + seed).jpg, Apricot kernel (endocarp and seed) File:Dried apricot 01 Pengo.jpg, Dried apricot, with dark color due to absence of sulfur dioxide treatment File:Сибирский абрикос.jpg,

(Siberian apricot; hardy to but with less palatable fruit) File:Turkey.Pasa Baglari005.jpg, Apricot tree, Turkey File:Apricots Drying In Cappadocia.JPG, Apricots drying on the ground in Cappadocia File:Syrian apricot paste 01.jpg, Syrian apricot paste File:Packaging apricot fruits in Surkhandarya (Uzbekistan).jpg, Packaging apricot fruits in Uzbekistan File:Dried process of apricot fruits.jpg, Drying apricot fruits File:Marelica Kečkemetska ruža - zreli plodovi na grani.jpg, 'Kecskemét Rose' - a pale and juicy apricot variety

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from1=Q21378744, from2=Q15949803 Armeniaca Crops originating from China Edible fruits Fruits originating in Asia Garden plants of Asia Prunus Drupes

Etymology

Species

Description

Cultivation and uses

Origin and domestication

''Prunus armeniaca''

''Prunus mume''

Cultivation practices

Pests and diseases

Kernel

Production

Turkey

Nutrition

Dried apricots

Phytochemicals

In culture

Gallery

See also

References

External links