
The nectarine is a rounded fruit, with juicy meat and with stone, similar to the peach. The skin is not hairy but smooth, as the plum’s skin, and it can be consumed peeled or unpeeled. The harvest of the nectarines in the N Hemisphere takes place in May, although they are found in the markets all the year round, since they are cultivated in many countries of the world.
The nectarine is very similar to the peach; actually, it is a variety of peach. It is a hairless peach obtained by
genetic mutation from the gene of the down crossed with the gene of the smooth skin. It has a more vivid colour (between a bright red and yellow colour) and it is usually smaller. Contrary to what people think, the nectarine is not a cross between a peach and a plum. It is a spontaneous variety of peach, so the peaches and the nectarines are genetically equivalent.
The word nectarine comes from " nectar" since this fruit has a tasteful flavour. The nectarine has been cultivated for a long time. It is well-known in England since the end of the XVIth century and due to unknown reasons it was not sold the European markets for a long time. At present, its consumption has increased thanks to France, United Kingdom and Germany, where the sales are on the increase.
Nectarines are consumed fresh, cooked in order to preserve them, used for the manufacture of jam and jellies. This fruit is often uses as an ingredient or as part of desserts, cakes, pies, crepes and even sherbets or ice creams.
The harvest of the nectarine in the N Hemisphere takes place during the month of May, and the fruit is sold until the end of July. In Spain, the provinces with greater production are Sevilla and Huelva, that devote a significant amount of their production to export. Although the production in the N Hemisphere is centred in spring time, we may find this juicy fruit out of season thanks to the production in other countries like South Africa, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, the United States, etc.