Dried Organic Apricots

History

The origin of the apricot is threefold as it comes from China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, all areas where the species has been widespread since 3000 BCE. Thanks to the merchant caravans, it spread slowly from those regions to the West, through central Asia, reaching Armenia and the Middle East. Its botanical binomial Prunus Armeniaca owes its name to Linnaeus' conviction that the plant was of Armenian origin. Armenia is still a fundamental diffusion point of this tree, as it was the place from where it was introduced to Greece and Europe, primarily due to the expeditions of Alexander the Great, and then of the Roman general Lucullus, who both acquainted the West with the different varieties of the plant, until then unknown. The Romans introduced it to Italy and Greece in 70-60 BCE, but its spread around the Mediterranean basin was later consolidated by the Arabs. Until the last century, however, apricots were not particularly widespread in Europe or in America, which was reached thanks to the English settlers. The tree also grows naturally in the Himalayas at altitudes of around 3,000 metres as a result of its stem's resistance to the cold climate.

As for the name, the Romans called it Armeniacum, which means Armenian apple, because it originated from there; or praecox, which in Latin means ‘early’ because it matured before peaches; from such root we also derive the Greek term 'praikokion'. 'Albicocca' in Italian – as well as the French ‘abricot’, the English ‘apricot’ and the Spanish ‘albaricoque’ – comes instead from the Arabic ‘albarquq’. In turn, the fruit gave its name to a shade of light orange, halfway between yellow and pink.

The apricot is a small tree, in the wild it can reach even 12-13 metres in height, while in the cultivations it is kept under 3.5 metres for care and harvesting reasons; it is a deciduous species that enters into vegetative rest during winter.

The plant has a variable appearing depending on the vegetative-productive habitus. The roots develop in depth, so much so that they need soils with a cultivation franc of at least 50-80 cm. The stem has a dark red-brown, longitudinally fissured rind. The average width of the trunk is 7-8 cm, but it varies from one cultivar to another. The buds, inserted on the knot, can be

woody and flowering: the first ones have a conical shape, while the second ones are roundish and, usually, localized on one-year-old branches; unlike the Pomaceae, in the apricot and in the other Drupaceae they are never mixed.

The one-year-old branches are reddish and lenticularly white; depending on the vigour and distribution of the flowering buds along their axis, they are divided into three categories:

-the mixed branch is on average vigorous and provided with flowering and wood buds (depending on the cultivar the flowering buds can be distributed along the whole branch, in the basal part or in the terminal part); there can also be ready buds on it that give rise to sprouts during the vegetative recovery itself (they are called anticipated branches), while the wood buds were formed in the year preceding the vegetative recovery;

-the brindillo is a slender branch with the approximate diameter of a pencil, about ten centimetres long and provided mainly with flowering buds, while the terminal one along the axis is woody;

-the floriferous dart, or May bunch, is a small branch a few centimetres long with a crown of flowering buds and the central one is woody.

The leaves are alternate, smooth, petiolate, heart-shaped, with more or less round glands, with serrated edge. At the beginning of their formation, they are reddish, then they become deep green and shiny.

The flowers are sessile (inserted on the branch without stalk), hermaphrodite, bell-like, solitary or coupled. They are single, but bloom in small groups located at the junction of the leaves. They vary from white to a delicate pinkish colour. They have five sepals and petals and many erect stamens. The apricot is generally a self-fertile plant, some recent North American and Canadian cultivars are partially self-sterile (the pollen of the same flower does not carry out fertilization), so they need pollinating varieties. The pollination is entomophilous, carried out by bees and other pollinating insects.

The fruit is an almost sessile drupe of round shape. The drupe is an indehiscent fleshy fruit with membranous epicarp, fleshy mesocarp and a lignifying endocarp (stone). In the specific case of the apricot, it is separated by a furrow with a variable depth called "suture line". It has a size between 3.5 and 6 cm. The skin, or epicarp, can be smooth or hairy, of yellow colour tinged with pink in the parts exposed to the sun. The pulp, or mesocarp, is pleasant, fragrant and melting, and the kernel, or endocarp, is woody and may or may not adhere to the mesocarp.

Source:

Nutspaper 1/2016

Properties

According to our analyses, 100 g of dried organic apricots contain:

• Copper (0.37 mg - 38% of NRV)
• Potassium (1330 mg - 67% of NRV)

Affordable price

Affordable price means to us offering our clients dried organic apricots with no added sugar (containing only natural sugar) that everybody can enjoy. We want, on the one hand, to place the proper value on raw materials in order to obtain a quality product by paying our farmers a fair price; on the other hand, we want to fulfil your needs when it comes to pricing. We establish fair long-term relationships with our producers to avoid race-to-the-bottom pricing and that are based on trust as part of our efforts to offer you the finest and most natural product.

Not only that: by choosing large packs of dried organic apricots, you are also contributing to the reduction in the use of plastic.

How much does 1 kg of dried organic apricots cost?

The price per kg for dried organic apricots depends on the apricots' quality, variety and origin. On Nuturally, we have selected the best dried organic apricots with respect for our supply chain, farmers, and raw materials.

Storage

You can store naturally-dried organic apricots away from sources of heat and moisture. Here are 4 useful tips:

• The best way to store dried organic apricots is in a refrigerated environment. Nuturally dried organic apricots with no added sugar– (containing only natural sugar)can also be stored easily at room temperature during the winter season. During summer, however, it is advisable to store the product in the refrigerator or in the coolest possible environment, as increased temperatures could encourage decay.
• The ideal container for the storage of dried organic apricots is glass. Indeed, because of its composition it is impervious to chemical agents and gases, and, as it has excellent insulation properties, it holds the initial temperature longer than other materials. It is even better if the glass is coloured: using coloured glass blocks the entry of certain wavelengths of light (including ultraviolet), and thus certain nutritional and organoleptic characteristics remain unaltered.
• The type of closure of the container is also important as an airtight cap ensures that the food is protected from excessive contact with oxygen, that is fundamental for aerobic bacteria.
• The best kind of storage environment is one which is well ventilated because ventilating the premises keeps internal humidity under control, which otherwise could escape from windows, thereby guaranteeing the right balance to lessen the onset of mould.