General Information
Apricots are fat free, saturated fat free, very low in sodium, cholesterol free, high in vitamin A, and are a good source of potassium. Although many factors affect the development of cancer, heart disease, and high blood pressure, eating a diet low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium and rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of these diseases. Turkish dried apricots are lighter in color and milder in flavor than other varieties. They’re often treated with sulfur to improve their color and shelf life.
History
Apricots are members of the rose family and closely related to the plum, peach, cherry, and almond. The Greeks wrongly supposed the fruit to have originated in Armenia, and called it the Armenian plum/apple, and hence its botanical name (armeniaca). The Romans were impressed by its early ripening and called it praecocium, meaning precocious. Like peaches and plums, apricots are drupes, that is, a stone fruit that develops from self-pollinating white flowers. The fruits are roundish, yellow-orange in colour, with its length somewhat flattened and having a “seam” that runs around it almost dividing it into halves. The skins are fuzzy and velvety, flushed with pink. The flesh is firm, sweet and fragrant, but contains little juice. Apricots do not ripen after being picked. They only soften, so the flavour never improves if picked green and allowed to sit. The kernel is edible, but care must be taken not to consume more than one or two because of the prussic acid. These kernels are used mainly to flavour jams and are put into the jars whole, and discarded later.
Apricots grew wild for thousands of years in China, where it was first cultivated.
