Apricot

Apricot is a nut fruit of the rosacea family. According to recorded data, apricots originated five thousand years ago in Asia and western China.  From Asia apricots were transferred to the Middle East and Turkey, which is currently considered the country where apricots are grown the most. Leading countries in apricot cultivation (ha) include Turkey, Iran and Spain. As far as production (t/ha) is concerned, leading countries are Greece and United States of America.

There are currently several mongrels between plums and apricots, called plumcots. New varieties are now developed mainly in Europe and USA. There are currently about 10 known varieties of apricots.

Trees grow to a height of 4 to 6 m with a diameter of the leafy part of 4.5 m. Apricot is hermaphroditic and most varieties are self-pollinating, but some require a pollinating variety. Apricots prefer a dry climate for flowering. Flowers appear on branches from the previous year, with a large number of them growing on the endings. Flowering starts about a week before the vegetable sprouts, from the beginning of February to that of March. The core develops in different phases. It hardens during the second stage of development, but is not linked to the fruit pulp. In order to get big fruits, the small ones are removed after frosts.