Peach Facts
A Short Guide to Peach Facts
When you're looking to snack healthy, here's a peach of a treat for you!
• Peach facts say that peaches were one of the first fruits to be cultivated in China, and this was about four thousand years ago. The climate there is similar to southeastern states like Georgia, which are major growing areas here.
• Peaches were taken to Persia (now known as Iran) along the routes that silk traders followed. Peaches came to the Americas with sixteenth and seventeenth century explorers. The Portuguese brought peaches to South America and the Spanish brought them to Florida. The peach moved westward as the country spread that way, with Native Americans and settlers. Peaches are cultivated in about two-thirds of our states today.
• Peaches are totaled with nectarines for the purpose of statistics, and peach facts confirm that the annual world production of peaches is about thirty-four billion pounds, and they are grown in seventy-one countries. The top producer is China, with forty-four percent of the world's total. Italy is second with 13% and USA is third with 10%.
• Peaches are a very healthy food, as most fruits are. One serving provides only thirty-eight calories, and 27% of your daily recommended allowance of Vitamin A. They are also rich in Vitamin C, iron and potassium.
• Peach facts state that the fruit has laxative and diuretic properties, and helps aid your body in producing digestive juices, and it even adds color to your skin! Peach leaf is said to destroy worms and the less you cook a peach, the more nutrients you will gain from it.
• When you dry peaches, they have more nutrients, but if you buy peaches already dried, you should know that they are often treated with sulfur dioxide to enrich their color and add to their storage life. If you're allergic to sulfur, you may want to avoid eating dried peaches excessively.
• The peach, facts say, is related to the almond, and both of their pits contain an amount of the substance known as cyanide. Avoid eating the pits, as large quantities of pits ingested can be fatal.
• Fresh peaches are at their peak for harvest in July and August. You want to select a peach that is firm, but the fleshy fruit should yield if you apply gentle pressure. Do not buy blemished or bruised peaches; choose the fruits that have a fragrant and warm aroma to them.
• Most peaches have a “blush” to their skin when you look at them, but peach facts tell us this is really just a trait in the varieties, and not necessarily any indicator of the quality of the fruit. A cleft that is well defined is the sign of a good peach.
• Avoid buying peaches with any green on them, as they will not ripen as sweet when picked that green. The sugar production in peaches stops once they are picked.
• Want some tasty treat ideas using peaches? Add peaches to your pancakes, and then serve with a strawberry and peach sauce. Or grill peach halves and then fill with ginger peach ice cream for a real treat!