Peach

This article is about the tree and its fruit. For other uses, see Peach (disambiguation), Peachtree (disambiguation), and Peaches (disambiguation).

Peach
Peach flower, fruit, seed and leaves as illustrated by Otto Wilhelm Thomé (1885)
'Autumn Red' peach, freestone cultivar in cross section
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Genus:	Prunus
Species:	P. persica
Binomial name
Prunus persica (L.) Batsch
Synonyms
List Amygdalus communis var. persica (L.) Risso Amygdalus ferganensis (Kostina & Rjabov) T.T.Yu & L.T.Lu Amygdalus laevis (DC.) Lej. Amygdalus nucipersica (L.) Rchb. Amygdalus persica L. Persica domestica Risso Persica ferganensis (Kostina & Rjabov) Kovalev & Kostina Persica laevis DC. Persica levis Risso Persica mammillata Poit. & Turpin Persica nana Mill. Persica nucipersica (L.) Borkh. Persica pendula Siebold Persica platycarpa Decne. Persica vulgaris Mill. Prunus daemonifuga H.Lév. & Vaniot

The peach (Prunus persica) is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called nectarines.

The specific name persica refers to its widespread cultivation in Persia (modern-day Iran), from where it was transplanted to Europe and in the 16th century to the Americas. It belongs to the genus Prunus, which includes the cherry, apricot, almond, and plum, and which is part of the rose family. Due to their close relatedness, the kernel of a peach stone tastes remarkably similar to almond, and peach stones are often used to make a cheap version of marzipan, known as persipan.

Peaches and nectarines are the same species, though they are regarded commercially as different fruits. The skin of nectarines lacks the fuzz associated with a peach fruit's skin.

In 2018, China produced 62% of the world total of peaches and nectarines. Spain, Italy, Turkey and Greece, all situated in the Mediterranean region, are prominent producers of peaches.

Description

The peach is a deciduous tree or tree like shrub that may very rarely grow to as much as 10 meters (33 ft) tall, but is more typically 3 m (10 ft) with large specimens reaching 4 m (13 ft). The spread of the crown is similar to the height, ranging from 3 to 4 meters. They never produce suckers or have thorns. Unlike with apples the size of peach trees is not generally controlled by dwarfing rootstocks in commercial orchards. A great variety of growth habits have been selected including columnar, dwarf, spreading, and weeping. The bark on the trunk and branches is dark gray with horizontal lenticels. It becomes more scaly and rough as the tree becomes older. The root system is deep on peach trees.

Twigs on peach trees have a smooth, hairless surface, the bark is usually red, but may be green on the sides not exposed to the sun. As they become older branchlets weather to gray in color. Twigs have true terminal buds at their ends.

Peach leaves are oblong to lanceolate, having sides nearly parallel until tapering at end and base or shaped like the head of a spear. The widest portion of the leaf is midway or further towards the leaf tip. Each leaf folds along the central rib of the leaf and is often also curved, usually 7–15 centimeters (3–6 in) long and 2–4.5 cm (1–2 in) wide, though occasionally they may be shorter. The surface of the leaves is smooth and hairless, but the leaf stem sometimes has glands. The edges of the leaves have serrated edges with blunt teeth. The teeth have a reddish-brown gland at the tip. Leaves are attached to the twigs by petioles, leaf stems. They are strong and measure 1 to 2 cm. They can also have one or more extrafloral nectaries.

Flowering

Peach flowers

Flowers on peach trees are either solitary or in groups of two and usually bloom before the leaves begin to grow. They may range in shades from white to red, but having pink or red flowers 2–3.5 cm in width is typical of cultivars selected for their fruit. Each flower has four or five petals and is somewhat cup shaped with the petals curving to shelter the flower's center. Each flower will have 20 to 30 stamens and purple-red anthers at their ends. The single style is nearly as long as the stamens. The flowers are self-fertile and outcross at about 5%.

Fruit

Trees can begin producing fruit in the two or three years after sprouting. Because of the hardness of the seed casing peaches are called stone fruits like the others in the Prunus genus, but are more formally called drupes. Fruits range in color from greenish white to orange yellow, usually with a blush of red on the side of the fruit most exposed to the sun. Their shape varies wildly from a flattened sphere resembling a doughnut, egg shaped, or a slightly compressed sphere usually with a seam on one side. A normal diameter for a fruit is between 5 and 7 centimeters (2 and 3 in), but sometimes they may be as small as 3 cm (1.2 in) or as large as 12 cm (4.7 in).

The flesh of the peach is quite variable in color from greenish-white to white to yellow to dark red. The texture can also differ, melting, nonmelting, or stony hard all possible.

The growth of the fruit is a double-sigmoid growth curve; a beginning quick period of development followed by a resting period of little growth and then a second period of rapid growth.

The seed of the peach is much larger less round than the seeds of its closest living relatives. Unlike the pit of an almond, which is only pitted, the peach pit's stony exterior is both pitted and deeply furrowed.

Taxonomy

The peach tree was given the name Amygdalus persica by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 in his book Systema Naturae. The accepted species name of Prunus persica was published by August Batsch in 1801. Though this was far from settled until the 20th century with many different placements of the peach and even divisions of nectarines and flat peaches into different species. The botanist Ulysses Prentiss Hedrick argued persuasively in 1917 that these differences are merely simple mutations and not species or even varieties beginning consensus towards the modern classification. This was supported by breeding experiments as early as 1906 showing the hairlessness of nectarines is a recessive trait. Though sometimes alternative names continue to be used even in the 21st Century with Amygdalus persica being used as recently as 2003 in an authoritative scientific publication. More than 200 scientific names have been published that are considered synonyms of Prunus persica by Plants of the World Online (POWO). Though the majority of sources agree on its classification as Prunus persica, there is division on the correct author citation for the name. Most sources, such as POWO, World Flora Online, and the Flora of North America give August Batsch credit. However, a few sources such as World Plants maintained by the botanist Michael Hassler instead credit Jonathan Stokes with priority dated to 1812.

Prunus persica is classified in Prunus with other stone fruits within the rose family, Rosaceae. The further classification into a subgenus or section is disputed. The work of Alfred Rehder, published in 1940, has been widely used to group the species of Prunus. Rehder based his system largely on that of Bernhard Adalbert Emil Koehne with the peach placed with the almond in subgenus Amygdalus because similarities in the rough and pitted stone. However, since 2000 studies of nuclear and chloroplast DNA have shown that the five subgenera accepted by Rehder are not more closely related to each other than to other species in Prunus. In 2013 Shuo Shi and collaborators published reasearch where they proposed it be part of subgenus Prunus together with the plums and cherries, but in a section named Persicae, now corrected to Persica. However, these groupings are not yet widely accepted.

The greatest genetic diversity in peaches is found in China and where it is generally agreed to have been domesticated. The species is often thought to be a cultigen, a taxa that has its origins in cultivation rather than as a wild species.

The closest relatives of the peach are the Chinese bush peach (Prunus kansuensis), Chinese wild peach (Prunus davidiana), the smooth stone peach (Prunus mira). Though Charles Darwin speculated that the peach might be a marvelous modification of the almond (Prunus amygdalus), research into the divergence of peach relatives shows this not to be the case. Quite the opposite the almond, while in the same genus, is confirmed to be a more distant relative.

In April 2010, an international consortium, the International Peach Genome Initiative, which includes researchers from the United States, Italy, Chile, Spain, and France, announced they had sequenced the peach tree genome (doubled haploid Lovell). In 2013 they published the peach genome sequence and related analyses. The sequence is composed of 227 million nucleotides arranged in eight pseudomolecules representing the eight peach chromosomes (2n = 16). In addition, 27,852 protein-coding genes and 28,689 protein-coding transcripts were predicted.

Particular emphasis in this study is reserved for the analysis of the genetic diversity in peach germplasm and how it was shaped by human activities such as domestication and breeding. Major historical bottlenecks were found, one related to the putative original domestication that is supposed to have taken place in China about 4,000–5,000 years ago, the second is related to the western germplasm and is due to the early dissemination of the peach in Europe from China and the more recent breeding activities in the United States and Europe. These bottlenecks highlighted the substantial reduction of genetic diversity associated with domestication and breeding activities.

Though not a separate grouping genetically, nectarines are regarded as different fruits commercially. The difference is the lack of fuzz, the trichomes, on the skin of the fruits. Research into the cause of this trait found the transcription factor gene PpeMYB25 regulates the formation of trichomes on peach fruits. A mutation can cause a loss of function resulting in the changed fruit type.

Fossil record

Fossil endocarps with characteristics indistinguishable from those of modern peaches have been recovered from late Pliocene deposits in Kunming, dating to 2.6 million years ago. In the absence of evidence that the plants were in other ways identical to the modern peach, the name Prunus kunmingensis has been assigned to these fossils. Genetic evidence supports a very early emergence of edibility in the wild ancestors of the peach.

Names

The genus name Prunus is from Latin for plum. The specific name persica was given by Linnaeus because European botanists of the 1700s and 1800s continued to believe the Roman accounts of peaches originating in Persia to be correct.

The modern English word – and its cognates in many European languages such as the German Pfirsich and Finnish persikka – also have Latin origins. In ancient Rome the peach was called persicum malum or simply persicum meaning "Persian apple". This became the Late Latin pessica and in turn the medieval pesca. In Old French it was variously the peche, pesche, or peske. The first usage in England was as the surname Pecche in about 1184–1185. The French word was directly adopted into English to mean the fruit and spelled either pechis or peches around the year 1400. In 1605 the first known instance of the modern spelling of peach was published. Peach trees are also, less frequently, called common peaches.

The various cultivars of peach with smooth skinned fruits are called nectarines. This word was coined by English speakers, originally as an adjective meaning nectar like, "nectar" and the suffix "-ine" with the first use in print in 1611.

Distribution

The exact place of origin for the domestic peach is unknown. Based on archeology from the 2010s East China near the Yangtze Delta has emerged as a likely candidate and contradicting the theory of domestication in Northwestern China. Many sources since the 1980s have listed North China as its likely place of origin. They are now naturalized in many other parts of Asia. It grows throughout eastern China and into Inner Mongolia. To the east they are found on the Korean Peninsula and in Japan. To the south they are also found in Vietnam and Laos. In the Indian Subcontinent are reported in the Eastern Himalayas and nearby Assam province, but not Nepal, parts of central India, Pakistan, and the Western Himalayas. Westwards they are also an introduced species in Afghanistan, Iran, and all the countries of Central Asia. Transitioning to Europe they also grow in the North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, and Turkey.

In Europe the peach trees are partly naturalized. In western Europe they are found in Portugal, Spain, France, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. In central Europe they are reported as escaped from cultivation in Germany, Hungary, and Switzerland and in Corsica, Sardinia, Italy, Cyprus, and Greece in the south. In the southeast they grow as introduced plants in Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, and Bulgaria. To the east they are found in parts of European Russia, Ukraine, and Crimea.

They also have escaped from cultivation in the African nations of Libya, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, and the Cape Verde Islands off the northeast coast. Specific areas of South Africa include the biogeographic areas of the Northern Provinces, Orange Free State, and KwaZulu-Natal.

In North America, in addition to cultivation, peach saplings are often found growing anywhere pits have been discarded. Most of these feral trees are short lived, but some have established naturalized populations. Such escapes are reported in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Nova Scotia. Trees outside of cultivation have been found in all of the United States east of the Mississippi excluding Minnesota, Vermont, and New Hampshire. In the northwest they are found in Oregon and Idaho. In the Southwestern United States they are to some extent naturalized from California to Texas, with the exception of in Nevada. Similar occurrences are also found in the northwest of Mexico and El Salvador in Central America.

In South America escapees are only reported from Ecuador and the northeast of Argentina.

In Australia it is naturalized in the states of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia. In New Zealand it can be found as an escapee from cultivation on both the North Island and south Island, especially around Auckland, Christchurch, and in the Otago region. It is also naturalized on many oceanic islands including the Mariana Islands, Mauritius, Rodrigues, Réunion, and Saint Helena.

Ecology

Though not native to North America, peach trees have become a host for caterpillars of the Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glacucus).

Cultivation

History

Dried date, peach, apricot, and stones from Lahun, Fayum, Egypt, Late Middle Kingdom, Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

Which peaches might be wild type or feral escapes from cultivation is still an open scientific question. The authors of the Flora of China wrote in 2003 that completely wild peach trees no longer exist and this view is widely accepted. Although its botanical name Prunus persica refers to Persia peaches originated in China, where they have been cultivated since the Neolithic period. From the 1980s to the 2010s it was believed that cultivation started around 2000 BCE. In 2014 new research was published showing that domestication occurred as early as 6000 BCE in Zhejiang Province on the central east coast of China. The oldest archaeological peach stones are from the Kuahuqiao site near Hangzhou. Archaeologists point to the Yangtze River Valley as the place where the early selection for favorable peach varieties probably took place.

A domesticated peach appeared very early in Japan, in 4700–4400 BCE, during the Jōmon period. It was already similar to modern cultivated forms, where the peach stones are significantly larger and more compressed than earlier stones. This domesticated type of peach was brought into Japan from China. Nevertheless, in China itself, this variety is currently attested only at a later date around 3300 to 2300 BCE.

In India, the peach first appeared sometime between 2500 and 1700 BCE, during the Harappan period in the Kashmir.

It is also found elsewhere in West Asia in ancient times. Peach cultivation reached Greece by 300 BC. Alexander the Great is sometimes said to have introduced them into Greece after conquering Persia, but no historical evidence for this claim has been found. Peaches were, however, well known to the Romans in the first century AD; the oldest known artistic representations of the fruit are in two fragments of wall paintings, dated to the first century AD, in Herculaneum, preserved due to the Vesuvius eruption of 79 AD, and now held in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. Archaeological finds show that peaches were cultivated widely in Roman northwestern Continental Europe, but production collapsed around the sixth century; some revival of production followed with the Carolingian Renaissance of the ninth century.

An article on peach tree cultivation in Spain is brought down in Ibn al-'Awwam's 12th-century agricultural work, Book on Agriculture. The peach was brought to the Americas by Spanish explorers in the 16th century, and eventually made it to England and France in the 17th century, where it was a prized and expensive treat. Horticulturist George Minifie supposedly brought the first peaches from England to its North American colonies in the early 17th century, planting them at his estate of Buckland in Virginia. Although Thomas Jefferson had peach trees at Monticello, American farmers did not begin commercial production until the 19th century in Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, South Carolina, and finally Virginia.

The Shanghai honey nectar peach was a key component of both the food culture and agrarian economy the area where the modern megacity of Shanghai stands. Peaches were the cornerstone of early Shanghai's garden culture. As modernization and westernization swept through the city the Shanghai honey nectar peach nearly disappeared completely. Much of modern Shanghai is built over these gardens and peach orchards.

The first European botanist to argue that the peach did not originate in Persia was Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1855. He argued on the basis of it not being mentioned by Xenophon in 401 BCE or by other early sources that it could not have arrived there much before it was imported to Rome in the 100s BCE. An important western botanist to argue for a Chinese origin of the species was Ulysses Prentiss Hedrick in 1917. Chinese literature records the fruit for at least 1000 years before its appearance in Europe.

Peaches in the Americas

Peaches were introduced into the Americas in the 16th century by the Spanish. By 1580, peaches were being grown in Latin America and were cultivated by the remnants of the Inca Empire in Argentina.

In the United States the peach was soon adopted as a crop by American Indians. In the eastern U.S. the peach also became naturalized and abundant as a feral species. Peaches were being grown in Virginia as early as 1629. Peaches grown by Indians in Virginia were said to have been "of greater variety and finer sorts" than those of the English colonists. Also in 1629, peaches were listed as a crop in New Mexico. William Penn noted the existence of wild peaches in Pennsylvania in 1683. In fact, peaches may have already spread to the American Southeast by the early to mid 1600s, actively cultivated by indigenous communities such as the Muscogee before permanent Spanish settlement of the region.

Peach plantations became an objective of American military campaigns against the Indians. In 1779, the Sullivan Expedition destroyed the livelihood of many of the Iroquois people of New York. Among the crops destroyed were plantations of peach trees. In 1864, Kit Carson led a successful U.S. army expedition to Canyon de Chelly, Arizona to destroy the livelihood of the Navajo. Carson destroyed thousands of peach trees. A soldier said they were the "best peach trees I have ever seen in the country, every one of them bearing fruit."

Growing conditions

A peach flower with a bee pollinating it

Peaches are easiest to grow dry, continental or temperate climates, with conditions of high humidity greatly increasing diseases and pests in subtropics and tropics. In addition the trees have a chilling requirement. Most cultivars require 600 to 1,000 hours of chilling at temperatures between 4 to 10 °C (40 to 50 °F). During the chilling period, key chemical reactions occur, but the plant appears dormant. Temperatures under −1 °C (30 °F) are ineffective for fulfilling the chilling requirement. Once the chilling period is fulfilled, the plant enters a second type of dormancy, the quiescence period. During quiescence, buds break and grow when sufficient warm weather favorable to growth is accumulated. The chilling requirement is not satisfied in tropical or subtropical areas except at high altitudes with low-chill cultivars, some which require less than 100 hours of suitable temperatures.

The trees themselves can usually tolerate temperatures to around −26 to −30 °C (−15 to −22 °F), although the following season's flower buds are usually killed at these temperatures, preventing a crop that summer. Flower bud death begins to occur between −15 and −25 °C (5 and −13 °F), depending on the cultivar and on the timing of the cold, with the buds becoming less cold tolerant in late winter. Another climate constraint is spring frost. The trees flower fairly early and the blossom is damaged or killed if temperatures drop below about −1.1 °C (30.0 °F). If the flowers are not fully open, though, they can tolerate a few degrees colder. The flowers are also vulnerable to temperatrues higher than 22 to 25 °C (72 to 77 °F) during the day.

Climates with significant winter rainfall at temperatures below 16 °C (61 °F) are also unsuitable for peach cultivation, as the rain promotes peach leaf curl, which is the most serious fungal disease for peaches. In practice, fungicides are extensively used for peach cultivation in such climates, with more than 1% of European peaches exceeding legal pesticide limits in 2013.

Finally, summer heat is required to mature the crop, with mean temperatures of the hottest month between 20 and 30 °C (68 and 86 °F).

Peach trees are grown in well draining soils as they are vulnerable to disease in wet soils. They are most productive in topsoils approximately 45 to 60 centimetres (18 to 24 in) with a sandy loam character.

Most peach trees sold by nurseries are cultivars budded or grafted onto a suitable rootstock. Common rootstocks are 'Lovell Peach', 'Nemaguard Peach', Prunus besseyi, and 'Citation'. The rootstock provides hardiness and budding is done to improve predictability of the fruit quality.

The developmental sequence of a nectarine over a 7+1⁄2-month period, from bud formation in early winter to fruit ripening in midsummer

Typical peach cultivars begin bearing fruit in their third year. Their lifespan in the U.S. varies by region; the University of California at Davis gives a lifespan of about 15 years while the University of Maine gives a lifespan of 7 years there.

Peach trees need full sun, and a layout that allows good natural air flow to assist the thermal environment for the tree. Peaches are planted in early winter. During the growth season, they need a regular and reliable supply of water, with higher amounts just before harvest.

Peaches need nitrogen-rich fertilizers more than other fruit trees. Without regular fertilizer supply, peach tree leaves start turning yellow or exhibit stunted growth. Blood meal, bone meal, and calcium ammonium nitrate are suitable fertilizers.

The flowers on a peach tree are typically thinned out because if the full number of peaches mature on a branch, they are undersized and lack flavor. Fruits are thinned midway in the season by commercial growers. Fresh peaches are easily bruised, so do not store well. They are most flavorful when they ripen on the tree and are eaten the day of harvest.

The peach tree can be grown in an espalier shape. The Baldassari palmette is a design created around 1950 used primarily for training peaches. In walled gardens constructed from stone or brick, which absorb and retain solar heat and then slowly release it, raising the temperature against the wall, peaches can be grown as espaliers against south-facing walls as far north as southeast Great Britain and southern Ireland.

Storage

Peaches and nectarines are best stored at temperatures of 0 °C (32 °F) and in high humidity. They are highly perishable, so are typically consumed or canned within two weeks of harvest.

Peaches are climacteric fruits and continue to ripen after being picked from the tree.

Insects

The first pest to attack the tree early in the year when other food is scarce is the earwig (Forficula auricularia) which feeds on blossoms and young leaves at night, preventing fruiting and weakening newly planted trees. The pattern of damage is distinct from that of caterpillars later in the year, as earwigs characteristically remove semicircles of petal and leaf tissue from the tips, rather than internally. Greasebands applied just before blossom are effective.

The larvae of such moth species as the peachtree borer (Synanthedon exitiosa), the yellow peach moth (Conogethes punctiferalis), the well-marked cutworm (Abagrotis orbis), Lyonetia prunifoliella, Phyllonorycter hostis, the fruit tree borer (Maroga melanostigma), Parornix anguliferella, Parornix finitimella, Caloptilia zachrysa, Phyllonorycter crataegella, Trifurcula sinica, Suzuki's promolactis moth (Promalactis suzukiella), the white-spotted tussock moth (Orgyia thyellina), the apple leafroller (Archips termias), the catapult moth (Serrodes partita), the wood groundling (Parachronistis albiceps) or the omnivorous leafroller (Platynota stultana) are reported to feed on P. persica. The flatid planthopper (Metcalfa pruinosa) causes damage to fruit trees.

The tree is also a host plant for such species as the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica), the unmonsuzume (Callambulyx tatarinovii), the promethea silkmoth (Callosamia promethea), the orange oakleaf (Kallima inachus), Langia zenzeroides, the speckled emperor (Gynanisa maja) or the brown playboy (Deudorix antalus). The European red mite (Panonychus ulmi) or the yellow mite (Lorryia formosa) are also found on the peach tree.

It is a good pollen source for honey bees and a honeydew source for aphids.

Diseases

Main article: List of peach and nectarine diseases

Women preparing peaches in Lesotho, Africa

Peach trees are prone to a disease called leaf curl, which usually does not directly affect the fruit, but does reduce the crop yield by partially defoliating the tree. Several fungicides can be used to combat the disease, including Bordeaux mixture and other copper-based products (the University of California considers these organic treatments), ziram, chlorothalonil, and dodine. The fruit is susceptible to brown rot or a dark reddish spot.

Cultivars

White peach of the clingstone variety

Hundreds of peach and nectarine cultivars are known. These are classified into two categories—freestones and clingstones. Freestones are those whose flesh separates readily from the pit. Clingstones are those whose flesh clings tightly to the pit. Some cultivars are partially freestone and clingstone, so are called semifree. Freestone types are preferred for eating fresh, while clingstone types are for canning. The fruit flesh may be creamy white to deep yellow, to dark red; the hue and shade of the color depend on the cultivar. The genetic diversity of peach cultivars is highest in China with 495 recognized cultivars.

Peach breeding has favored cultivars with more firmness, more red color, and shorter fuzz on the fruit surface. These characteristics ease shipping and supermarket sales by improving eye appeal. This selection process has not necessarily led to increased flavor, though. Peaches have a short shelf life, so commercial growers typically plant a mix of different cultivars to have fruit to ship all season long.

Different countries have different cultivars. In the United Kingdom, for example, these cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:

• 'Duke of York'
• 'Peregrine'
• 'Rochester'
• 'Lord Napier' (nectarine)

For China specifically see Peach production in China § Cultivars.

Nectarines

White nectarines, whole and cut open

The cultivars called commonly called nectarines – have a smooth skin. It is on occasion referred to as a "shaved peach" or "fuzzless peach", due to its lack of fuzz or short hairs. Though fuzzy peaches and nectarines are regarded commercially as different fruits, with nectarines often erroneously believed to be a crossbreed between peaches and plums, or a "peach with a plum skin", nectarines belong to the same species as peaches. Several genetic studies have concluded nectarines are produced due to a recessive allele, whereas a fuzzy peach skin is dominant.

As with peaches, nectarines can be white or yellow, and clingstone or freestone. On average, nectarines are slightly smaller and sweeter than peaches, but with much overlap. The lack of skin fuzz can make nectarine skins appear more reddish than those of peaches, contributing to the fruit's plum-like appearance. The lack of down on nectarines' skin also means their skin is more easily bruised than peaches.

The history of the nectarine is unclear; the first recorded mention in English is from 1611, but they had probably been grown much earlier within the native range of the peach in central and eastern Asia. A number of colonial-era newspaper articles make reference to nectarines being grown in the United States prior to the Revolutionary War. The 28 March 1768 edition of the New York Gazette (p. 3), for example, mentions a farm in Jamaica, Long Island, New York, where nectarines were grown. Later, cultivars of higher quality with better shipping qualities were introduced to the United States by David Fairchild of the Department of Agriculture in 1906.

Peacherines

Peacherines are claimed to be a cross between a peach and a nectarine, but as they are the same species cannot be a true cross (hybrid); they are marketed in Australia and New Zealand. The fruit is intermediate in appearance, though, between a peach and a nectarine, large and brightly colored like a red peach. The flesh of the fruit is usually yellow, but white varieties also exist. The Koanga Institute lists varieties that ripen in the Southern Hemisphere in February and March.

In 1909, Pacific Monthly mentioned peacherines in a news bulletin for California. Louise Pound, in 1920, claimed the term peacherine is an example of language stunt.

Flat peaches

Main article: Flat peach

Flat peaches, or pan-tao, have a flattened shape, in contrast to ordinary near-spherical peaches.

Ornamentals

Peach trees are also grown for ornamental value in gardens, but trees specifically selected for this purpose have small, inedible fruits.

Production

Peach (and nectarine) production, 2020
Country	Production (millions of tonnes)
China	15.00
Spain	1.31
Italy	1.02
Turkey	0.89
Greece	0.89
Iran	0.66
United States	0.56
World	24.57
Source: United Nations, FAOSTAT

In 2020, world production of peaches (combined with nectarines for reporting) was 24.6 million tonnes, led by China with 61% of the world total (table).

The U.S. state of Georgia is known as the "Peach State" due to its significant production of peaches as early as 1571, with exports to other states occurring around 1858. In 2014, Georgia was third in US peach production behind California and South Carolina. The largest peach producing countries in Latin America are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico.

Nutrition

Peaches, raw

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	165 kJ (39 kcal)
Carbohydrates	9.54 g
Sugars	8.39 g
Dietary fiber	1.5 g
Fat	0.25 g
Protein	0.91 g
Vitamins and minerals Vitamins Quantity %DV† Vitamin A equiv. beta-Carotene 2% 16 μg 2% 162 μg Thiamine (B1) 2% 0.024 mg Riboflavin (B2) 2% 0.031 mg Niacin (B3) 5% 0.806 mg Pantothenic acid (B5) 3% 0.153 mg Vitamin B6 1% 0.025 mg Folate (B9) 1% 4 μg Choline 1% 6.1 mg Vitamin C 7% 6.6 mg Vitamin E 5% 0.73 mg Vitamin K 2% 2.6 μg Minerals Quantity %DV† Calcium 0% 6 mg Iron 1% 0.25 mg Magnesium 2% 9 mg Manganese 3% 0.061 mg Phosphorus 2% 20 mg Potassium 6% 190 mg Sodium 0% 0 mg Zinc 2% 0.17 mg
Other constituents	Quantity
Water	89 g
Link to USDA Database entry
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults, except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.

Raw peach flesh is 89% water, 10% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and contains negligible fat. A medium-sized raw peach, weighing 100 g (3.5 oz), supplies 39 calories, and contains small amounts of essential nutrients, but none is a significant proportion of the Daily Value (DV, right table). A raw nectarine has similar low content of nutrients. The glycemic load of an average peach (120 grams) is 5, similar to other low-sugar fruits.

One medium peach also contains 2% or more daily value of vitamins E and K, niacin, folate, iron, choline, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, zinc and copper. Fresh peaches are a moderate source of antioxidants and vitamin C which is required for the building of connective tissue inside the human body.

Phytochemicals

Total polyphenols in mg per 100 g of fresh weight were 14–102 in white-flesh nectarines, 18–54 in yellow-flesh nectarines, 28–111 in white-flesh peaches, and 21–61 mg per 100 g in yellow-flesh peaches. The major phenolic compounds identified in peach are chlorogenic acid, catechins and epicatechins, with other compounds, identified by HPLC, including gallic acid and ellagic acid. Rutin and isoquercetin are the primary flavonols found in clingstone peaches.

Red-fleshed peaches are rich in anthocyanins, particularly cyanidin glucosides in six peach and six nectarine cultivars and malvin glycosides in clingstone peaches. As with many other members of the rose family, peach seeds contain cyanogenic glycosides, including amygdalin (note the subgenus designation: Amygdalus). These substances are capable of decomposing into a sugar molecule and hydrogen cyanide gas. Cyanogenic glycosides are toxic if consumed in large doses. While peach seeds are not the most toxic within the rose family (see bitter almond), large consumption of these chemicals from any source is potentially hazardous to animal and human health.

Peach allergy or intolerance is a relatively common form of hypersensitivity to proteins contained in peaches and related fruits (such as almonds). Symptoms range from local effects (e.g. oral allergy syndrome, contact urticaria) to more severe systemic reactions, including anaphylaxis (e.g. urticaria, angioedema, gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms). Adverse reactions are related to the "freshness" of the fruit: peeled or canned fruit may be tolerated.

Aroma

The attractive smell of a ripe peach has 110 different volatile molecules combined together, including alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, esters, polyphenols and terpenoids. The proportions vary significantly between different cultivars of peach.

In culture

Peaches are not only a popular fruit, but also are symbolic in many cultural traditions, such as in art, paintings, and folk tales such as the Peaches of Immortality.

China

See also: Peaches of Immortality

Peach blossoms are highly prized in Chinese culture. The ancient Chinese believed the peach to possess more vitality than any other tree because their blossoms appear before leaves sprout. When early rulers of China visited their territories, they were preceded by sorcerers armed with peach rods to protect them from spectral evils. On New Year's Eve, local magistrates would cut peach wood branches and place them over their doors to protect against evil influences. Peach wood was also used for the earliest known door gods during the Han. Another author writes:

The Chinese also considered peach wood (t'ao-fu)(Chinese: 桃符; pinyin: Táofú) protective against evil spirits, who held the peach in awe. In ancient China, peach-wood bows were used to shoot arrows in every direction in an effort to dispel evil. Peach-wood slips or carved pits served as amulets to protect a person's life, safety, and health.

Peachwood seals or figurines guarded gates and doors, and, as one Han account recites, "the buildings in the capital are made tranquil and pure; everywhere a good state of affairs prevails". Writes the author, further:

Another aid in fighting evil spirits were peach-wood wands. The Li-chi (Han period) reported that the emperor went to the funeral of a minister escorted by a sorcerer carrying a peachwood wand to keep bad influences away. Since that time, peachwood wands have remained an important means of exorcism in China.

Similarly, peach trees would often be planted near the front door of a house to bring good fortune.

Peach kernels Tao ren (Chinese: 桃仁; pinyin: Táorén) are a common ingredient used in traditional Chinese medicine to dispel blood stasis, counter inflammation, and reduce allergies.

In an orchard of flowering peach trees, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei took an oath of brotherhood in the opening chapter of the classic Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Another peach orchard, in "The Peach Blossom Spring" by poet Tao Yuanming, is the setting of the favourite Chinese fable and a metaphor for utopias. A peach tree growing on a precipice was where the Taoist master Zhang Daoling tested his disciples.

The Old Man of the South Pole, one of the deities of the Chinese folk religion Fu Lu Shou (Chinese: 福祿壽; pinyin: Fú lù shòu), is sometimes seen holding a large peach, representing long life and health. A long standing traditional birthday food for seniors is a symbolic longevity peach (shòutáo bao - 寿桃包), a type of lotus seed bun shaped like a peach, frequent in Taiwan and Cantonese culture.

The term "bitten peach", first used by Legalist philosopher Han Fei in his work Han Feizi, became a byword for homosexuality. The book records the incident when courtier Mizi Xia bit into an especially delicious peach and gave the remainder to his lover, Duke Ling of Wei, as a gift so that he could taste it, as well.

Korea

In Korea, peaches have been cultivated from ancient times. According to Samguk Sagi, peach trees were planted during the Three Kingdoms of Korea period, and Sallim gyeongje also mentions cultivation skills of peach trees. The peach is seen as the fruit of happiness, riches, honours, and longevity. The rare peach with double seeds is seen as a favorable omen of a mild winter. It is one of the 10 immortal plants and animals, so peaches appear in many minhwa (folk paintings). Peaches and peach trees are believed to chase away spirits, so peaches are not placed on tables for jesa (ancestor veneration), unlike other fruits.

Japan

Momotarō emerges from a peach.

The world's sweetest peach is grown in Fukushima, Japan. The Guinness world record for the sweetest peach is currently held by a peach grown in Kanechika, Japan, with a sugar content of 22.2%. However, a fruit farm in rural Fukushima, Koji grew a much sweeter peach, with a Brix score of 32°. Degrees Brix measures the sugar content of the fruit, and is usually between 11 and 15 for a typical peach from a supermarket.

Momotarō, a folktale character, is named after the giant peach from which he was birthed.

Two traditional Japanese words for the color pink correspond to blossoming trees: one for peach blossoms (momo-iro), and one for cherry blossoms (sakura-iro).

Vietnam

A Vietnamese mythic history states that in the spring of 1789, after marching to Ngọc Hồi and then winning a great victory against invaders from the Qing dynasty of China, Emperor Quang Trung ordered a messenger to gallop to Phú Xuân citadel (now Huế) and deliver a flowering peach branch to the Empress Ngọc Hân. This took place on the fifth day of the first lunar month, two days before the predicted end of the battle. The branch of peach flowers that was sent from the north to the centre of Vietnam was not only a message of victory from the Emperor to his consort, but also the start of a new spring of peace and happiness for all the Vietnamese people. In addition, since the land of Nhật Tân had freely given that very branch of peach flowers to the Emperor, it became the loyal garden of his dynasty.

The protagonists of The Tale of Kieu fell in love by a peach tree, and in Vietnam, the blossoming peach flower is the signal of spring. Finally, peach bonsai trees are used as decoration during Vietnamese New Year (Tết) in northern Vietnam.

Europe

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, A Still Life Painting of Peaches, 1881–82

Many famous artists have painted with peach fruits placed in prominence. Caravaggio, Vicenzo Campi, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, Henri Fantin-Latour, Severin Roesen, Peter Paul Rubens, and Van Gogh are among the many influential artists who painted peaches and peach trees in various settings. Scholars suggest that many compositions are symbolic, some an effort to introduce realism. For example, Tresidder claims the artists of Renaissance symbolically used peach to represent heart, and a leaf attached to the fruit as the symbol for tongue, thereby implying speaking truth from one's heart; a ripe peach was also a symbol to imply a ripe state of good health. Caravaggio's paintings introduce realism by painting peach leaves that are molted, discolored, or in some cases have wormholes – conditions common in modern peach cultivation.

In literature, Roald Dahl named his children's fantasy novel James and the Giant Peach because a peach is "prettier, bigger and squishier than a cherry."

United States

Peaches at a roadside stand in South Carolina

South Carolina named the peach its official fruit in 1984. The peach became the state fruit of Georgia, nicknamed the "Peach State", in 1995. The peach went from feral trees utilized opportunistically to a tended commercial crop in the Southern United States in the 1850s, as the boll weevil attacked regional cotton crops. When Georgia reached peak production in the 1920s, elaborate festivals celebrated the fruit. By 2017, Georgia's production represented 3–5% of the U.S. total. Alabama named it the "state tree fruit" in 2006. Delaware's state flower has been the peach blossom since 1995, and peach pie became its official dessert in 2009.

Gallery

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  Peach blossoms
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  Incipient fruit development
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  Peaches on tree
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  Peaches in a basket

Paintings

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  Portrait of Isabella and John Stewart by Charles Willson Peale, 1774
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  Still Life Basket of Peaches by Raphaelle Peale, 1816
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  A Jar of Peaches by Claude Monet c. 1866
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  "Spring 4, peach-blossoms and green pheasants" by Kōno Bairei, 1883
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  Peach (cultivar 'Berry'), watercolour, 1895

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Further reading

• Okie, William Thomas. The Georgia Peach: Culture, Agriculture, and Environment in the American South (Cambridge Studies on the American South, 2016).

External links

• "Prunus persica". Plants for a Future.
• National Center for Home Food Preservation—Freezing Peaches
• Bioimages.vanderbilt.edu – Prunus persica images
• Clemson.edu: Everything About Peaches