Peach - Fruits 

Description

Peaches are drupes or fleshy stone fruits of which there are thousands of varieties. They grow in the Prunus Persica peach tree.

Origins

Recent archaeological findings show that peach cultivation goes back to 3,000 years ago in China. Having probably taken the Silk Road, the peach went to Persia, where it got its scientific name from Prunus Persica, before reaching the Greeks and Romans. In the Middle Ages, its cultivation spread throughout the European continent.

Characteristics

Belonging to the botanical family of the Rosaceae, as the pear, the apple, the almond or the plum, the peach is a stone fruit, sweet and juicy. It is a climateric fruit, that is, unlike apricot, it continues to ripen after harvesting. The peach has a velvety and hairy skin that can be yellow, orange or pink, depending on the variety. Its pulp can be white, yellow, orange or even red for so-called blood peaches. The tree in which it grows is the peach Prunus Persica. As in all Prunus, the peach comes from a non-adherent inferior ovary. The pericarp is fleshy on the outside and lignified on the inside. This forms a nucleus that attaches or does not adhere to the pulp, and contains a seed called almond. The peach is a versatile fruit that can be used to garnish meals, stewed fruit, jams, among others.

Other facts

Legend has it that a powerful Chinese queen of the Han Dynasty owned a garden where the immortality peaches fructified once every 3,000 years. It was then enough to take a single bite to have eternal life.

Production

The main world producers are China, Italy, Spain, the United States, Greece and Turkey. Europe produces 4.18 million tons. In France, the production of peaches for unprocessed products is estimated at 260,000 tons, mainly harvested in Languedoc-Roussillon with a 44%, in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur with 29% and in Rhône-Alpes with 20%. In our country, each household consumes 2.8 kg per year.