Grapes

 

-Green or purple berry growing in clusters on vines, used for making wine or eaten as fruit.

-Champagne is a fruitdrink too. (-;

-Grapes have been cultivated for a long time. Egyptian reliefs from 2440 BC show vineyards and pictures of wine making. Noach planted a vineyard before this all happened. It is common knowledge that the Romans loved and cultivated the fruit. Since then the fruit has been spread all over the world.

-There are two types of grapes: tablegrapes, to be eaten raw, and winegrapes; used for the production of wine

Oranges

 

Citrus sinenis
Family: Rutaceae

Clementine, Mandarin, Tangerine, Satsuma
Citrus reticulata,
Family: Rutaceae

Description & storage
Orange: Round thick skinned juicy edible fruit that is a reddish-yellow color when ripe.

Mandarin types: type of small orange with loose skin.

Store them at 12 degrees Celcius (=57o F) or if you like in the refrigerator. This is nice when you use them for squeezing.

Tree
Orange trees are evergreen trees. They grow 8 to 15 m. high.

The mandarin tree grows up to 7,5 m. high.

The kumquat plant is a shrub that grows up to 4m. high.

Sweety: see grapefruits.

Short history
The orange is cultivated over thousands of years now. It is supposed to originate from South- and indo-China.

The clergyman Pierre Clement crossed a mandarin and an orange and this luckily crossing
was a seedless mandarin with a looser skin thus easier to peel: the clementine. (beginning of the 20th century).

The satsuma is a special crossing from Japan.

Use
Oranges are eaten by hand and squeezed a lot.

Mandarins are eaten by hand and can be used to squeeze as well. A great sweetner for grapefruit juice.

Kumquats are eaten raw withe the edible skin,

Types and family

Clementines: the clementine is a seedless mandarin.
Kumquats: the kumquat is like a citrus fruit and has an edible skin. It is the most well known of the sort fortunella which is closely related to Citrus. Mandarins: type of small orange with loose skin. The mandarin got its name because it was exploited by high-ranking government officials in China (mandarins).
Minneolas: are a crossing between a tangerine and a grapefruit and can be recognized by
"the little nose". Can be peeled manually. Is a type of Tangelo, a minneola is a specifically marketed tangelo.
Oranges: There are different types of oranges: navel oranges, Valencia oranges and blood oranges are the most cultivated races.
Tangelos: a tangelo is a crossing between a tangerine, a grapefruit and an orange. A specific kind of tangelo is the Ugli which is described further on this page.
Satsuma:is a very special seedling from Japan. Its skin is a bit tighter than the clementine and it doesn't have seeds as well.
Tangerines: a tangerine is an orange-red mandarin with a particular citrus taste. Can be peeled manually.
Uglis: a specific kind of tangelo, easier to peel. A crossing between a tangerine, a grapefruit and an orange. Looks really ugli and sometimes has brown spots. Can be peeled manually.

Other peculiar characteristics

-The calcium in fortified orange juice is better absorbed than the calcium in milk. A glass of milk (8 ounces) has 291 mg of calcium; of which 93 mg is absorbed (31%). Fortified orange juice (8 ounces) has 350 mg of calcium; of which 130 mg. is absorbed (37%).

-One orange contains about 50 mg. vitamin C; this is about 2/3 of our daily need;

-Oranges are an acid and therefore a detoxifying fruit;

-Bitteroranges can't be eaten raw and are used to make marmalades;

-Citrus fruit is never colored artificially.

-The orange colors orange under the influence of cold temperatures. In the tropics the fruit keeps a green to green with yellow stains color.

-Nutrition Facts

-Selection

-Recipes

-Acidity

Plum

 

Prunus domestica
Family: Rosaceae

Description & storage
Plum: soft round smooth-skinned sweet fruit with sweet flesh and a flattish pointed stone.

A plum is a fruittype with a lot of varieties. They vary in season, size, colour and taste.
Plums are large 3-6 cm andThey are dried often and can be kept for a few days. Keep them on a fruit dish on a cool and dark place.

Tree / shrub
The plum tree grows 5 to 7m. high, has greenish-white flowers, is pollinated by bees and loses its leaves in autumn.

Short history
Plums are native in China, America, Europe and the Kaukasus. Greek writers mention cultivated plum races being imported to Greece from Syria. The Romans introduced the fruit in Northern Europe.
In 1864 there were 150 cultivated races.

Use
Plums taste best consumed "warm" from the tree but are a fine nutrition in its dried form as well. Plums stimulate the bowel movement. Its skin contains a substance that is responsible for that effect so if you peel the fruit you won't be bothered with the well known side effects of this lovely fruit. Plums are also used for its juice and often jam or a thick syrup is made out of it.

Types and family There are more than 200 cultivars. There are four maintypes of plums: European plums, Japanese plums, the Damsons & Mirabelles and the "cherry-plums" (a native plum sometimes picked wild). Japanese plums are larger than European plums and it is a stronger race.
A new hybrid is the plumcot or pluot. They are plum-apricot hybrids, mmmmm..delicious.

Other peculiar characteristics

-Plums are high in carbohydrates, low in fat and low in calories. Plums are an excellent source of vitamin A, calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium and fiber. Plums are free of sodium and cholesterol. Like all fruit plums contain a substantial amount of vitamin C.

-A prune is a dried plum;

-Plums for drying are harvested at a more mature stage than those used for fresh consumption or canning;

-California is famous for its export of Japanes plums.

-Prunes used to be dried on the tree and in the sun like raisins, but nowadays they are dried in forced air tunnels heated by gas, this gives a more uniform product.

-The Japanese plum should be called the Chinese plum because the Japanese imported the fruit 200 to 300 years ago from the Chinese that had cultivated the fruit for thousands of years. The Japanese spread the fruit allover the world and so it became the Japanese plum.

-Plums stimulate the bowel movement. Its skin contains a substance that is responsible for that effect. If you peel the fruit you won't be bothered with the well known side effects of this lovely fruit.

-Nutrition Facts

-Selection

-Recipes

-Acidity

Figs

 

Ficus carica
Family: Moraceae

Description & storage
Fig: soft sweet fruit, full of small seeds and often eaten dried.
Fresh figs are delicious and often jam and chutney is made from them.
The skin of figs is very thin and ripe figs can't be kept or transported very well. As figs have to be picked when ripe you only can eat them fresh in the country of origin.
In the warm countries the figs are dried for export and storage.

Tree / shrub
The fig tree/shrub grows upto 9m x 7m.

Short histotory
Figs are originally from small Asia and are one of the first fruits cultivated ever. The Greek mention them and around 60 A.C. and Plato promoted the fig as being the nutrition for athletes. A story is known of the Greek government that had forbidden all export of figs once to assure themselves a good outcome at The Olympic Games. The Greek knew about twenty nine fig sorts. Officially figs were imported to Europe around 1600. Today there are more than 600 different fig types.

Use
Figs taste best consumed "warm" from the tree. They are dried often because they can't be stored.

Types and family
There are over 600 fig cultivars.

Other peculiar characteristics

-A lot of fig plant races are used decoratively: like the rubberplant and the ficus benjamina;

-Dried figs contain a lot of sugar, about 60%. It is thought that that was the reason why Plato advised Greek athletes to eat many figs.

-The white juice that drips out of the fruit if the the stalk has been broken off is called latex. It was supposed to represent the universal energy and was used as a remedy against infertility and to incite the breast feeding process.

-Each fig cultivar has different shaped leafs;

-Dried figs consist for about 60% of sugar, contain a lot of vitamins and it is said that humans could live on figs alone. It is a very healthy fruit and you can consume as much of them as you like.

-Nutrition Facts

-Selection

-Recipes

-Acidity

Peaches

 

Prunus persica Prunus persica var. nectarina
Family: Rosaceae Family: Rosaceae

Description & storage
Peach: Round juicy fruit with downy yellowish-red skin and a rough stone.
Nectarine: Type of peach with a thin smooth skin and firm flesh.

Peaches and nectarines always have to be picked ripe. They do not ripe well after they have been picked. You can keep peaches and nectarines for one to three days but you have to be very carefull, one small bruise and it will go bad on that spot.

Tree / shrub
The peach and nectarine trees or shrubs grow upto 5 x 5 m. It is self pollinative and has an impressive blossoming.
Darwin (1731-1802) noticed that peach trees spontaneously produced nectarines and that this also happens the other way around. He even describes a tree that produced a fruit that was half peach half nectarine and later fell back producing peaches.

Short history
Peaches are from Chinese origin. They go back to the 10th century B.C. and are often found on illustrations from that time. The Chinese have developed an incredible amount of peach of races.
The peach got it's name around 300 B.C. The greek philosopher Theophrastus thought it came from Persia and named this lovely fruit to that country. In the first century the fruit is mentioned by Romans who wrote that they imported the fruit from Persia. It is supposed that the peach reached Europe around the year 0. In England they don't show up before 1650 A.D.
Strange enough, the nectarine is never mentioned in descriptions from the time Before Christ. Nectarines are first mentioned in America in 1720 when they grew between the peach trees in Virginia. A.J. Downing registred 19 nectarine races in America in 1857.
Today many types of nectarines are cultivated.

Use
Peaches and nectarines taste best consumed "warm" from the tree. Often jam is made out of it because they can't be stored fresh.
Nectarines are mostly eaten with the skin as peaches are mostly peeled.

Types and family
There are races with the stone fixed to the pulp and races with a loose stone. The pulp varies in colour from white to yellow and certain types have red stains.
The colour of it's skin varies from green to dark-red.
Most remarkable characteristic of the peach is it's downy skin.

Peculiar characteristics

-If your fruit crop is large and you don't know what to do with all those lovely ripe peaches you can make jam out of it. You also can purate the peaches to freeze them in for winter use; you can make a delicious chutney or you can make juice out of it. Peach juice is nectar from the gods according to the Romans and it can be freezed in as well!

-never plant a peach shrub or tree near an almond tree. As the peach is a brother of the almond the two sorts are easily crossed. The result is bitter nuts;

-Most peach stones have little holes in it or have a ribbed structure;

-Peach trees or shrubs can easily be grown out of a peach stone;

-Peach stones are used to make the coal for filters;

-If you buy peaches look for ones with a creamy to gold undercolor that indicates ripeness. The amount of red on peaches depends on the variety, it is not always a sign of ripeness. Look for fruit that has a well-defined crease and a good fragrance. Unripe peaches have a green undercolour and will never ripen. Peaches and nectarines only ripen well on the tree.

-Nutrition Facts

-Selection

-Recipes

-Acidity