Nectarine

The botanical name for the nectarine fruit is prunus persica and it is actually a variation of the peach family and is considered as being essentially the same fruit as peaches. The Rosacaea family of the nectarines and the peaches was discovered some 2000 years ago and is cultivated in warm temperatures of both the Northern and the Southern hemispheres. The trees that bear the nectarine fruit are small trees usually ranging from 8 feet to 20 feet and are self pollinating which is why only one tree needs to be planted in order to acquire fruit. It has been witnessed that regular peach trees have at times branched out into a segment that produces the nectarine fruit hereby making one tree bear both fruits simultaneously.

 

The nectarine fruit is more or less indistinguishable from its peach sister in the sense that it looks more like a plum than a peach owing to its smooth texture. This can be attributed to the difference in one gene in the chemical make up of the two fruits which gives peaches a fuzzy texture and nectarines a smooth one. Nectarines are smaller in size than peaches and are often mistaken to be a cross between peaches and plums. Nectarines come in red, white, yellow, and orange flesh and are considered a great source of vitamins A and C.

 

Other nutritional properties of the nectarine fruit are that they are low fat, sodium free, and cholesterol free which makes them an excellent diet choice for health conscious individuals and are also used extensively for detoxification processes. Nectarines are used widely in producing jams, jellies, pies, and conserves. Nectarine fruits should be picked and consumed fresh as they very quickly succumb to warm weather (they are grown essentially in the warm climate) and spoil very quickly.