The Complete Handbook of Apricots

Chapter 1: Understanding Apricots

An apricot is the fruit of Prunus armeniaca, a small deciduous tree belonging to the Rosaceae family, which also includes cherries, peaches, plums, and almonds. While often grouped with peaches and nectarines as "stone fruit," the apricot is a distinct species with its own physiological and commercial behavior. It matures earlier in the season than most of its relatives, which is a key to its marketplace value, but that early maturity comes with a set of biological constraints that dictate how it must be grown, harvested, and handled.

The apricot tree is native to the mountain regions of central and western Asia, with cultivation reaching back more than 4,000 years. It was carried along the Silk Road, into the Middle East, and eventually spread to the Mediterranean basin and then the New World. Today the major commercial production is centered in Turkey, Iran, Uzbekistan, Algeria, and Italy, with significant plantings in the United States, France, Spain, and China. Turkey is the dominant world producer by volume, largely for the dried fruit market, while California is the most significant producer in North America, concentrating on both fresh and processed fruit. The orchard climate in the San Joaquin Valley of California, with its dry summers and low disease pressure, is regarded as an industry benchmark for fresh-market quality. However, apricots are far more climatically sensitive than their peach and plum cousins, and understanding those sensitivities is the first requirement for anyone planting a tree or buying pallets