Nectarine

Name: Nectarine (Prunus persica var. nucipersica), the smooth-skinned form of the peach. It is not a cross between a peach and a plum, as is sometimes thought. Nectarines can be white- or yellow-fleshed, and either freestone or clingstone.

Description

A nectarine is genetically a peach, differing mainly by a single gene that makes the skin smooth rather than fuzzy. Nectarine and peach seedlings can even appear on the same tree. Peaches are native to China, and nectarines are thought to have appeared there as natural variants long ago, before being carried west along trade routes through Persia to Europe.

Nectarines are now grown in warm temperate regions around the world, with large crops in China, Italy, Spain, Greece and the United States, particularly California. The fruit tends to be slightly smaller and firmer than a peach, with a more concentrated, slightly tangy flavour.

Main nutrition value

Nectarines provide vitamin C, vitamin A (as carotenoids in yellow-fleshed types), potassium and fibre, with relatively few calories.

How best to be consumed

Nectarines are at their best ripe but still slightly firm, and eaten with the thin skin on.

1. Eat fresh, skin and all, after a good rinse, when the fruit gives slightly near the stem.
2. Slice into salads, yoghurt, porridge or cereal.
3. Grill or roast halves with a little honey, which brings out their sweetness.
4. Bake into tarts, crumbles and cobblers, or poach lightly.
5. Ripen firm fruit in a paper bag at room temperature, then refrigerate.

Overconsumption could cause…

Nectarines are safe in ordinary amounts, with a few particular points.

1. Allergic reactions or itchy mouth in some people sensitive to peaches or birch pollen.
2. Digestive discomfort, such as bloating, from a large amount of fruit at once.
3. Danger from the stone's kernel, which contains compounds that release cyanide, so the pits should never be cracked or eaten.
4. Added sugar adding up in canned or syrupy nectarines and desserts.

GroupsStone FruitsRose family (Rosaceae)Low fatLow sodiumFresh

Related foodsPlumApricotPeachSour CherryMangoCherry

Wikipedia — Nectarine, used for origin, naming and history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nectarine