NECTARINE
ORIGINS

The peach (Prunus persica vulgaris) orginated from China, where it has been grown for over 5,000 years, and spread into Syria, Persia (from which it took its Latin name) and Greece, where it was already known in the 4th century BC. It arrived in Italy in the first century BC, while Spanish colonisers introduced it to America.

NECTARINE CULTIVATION

The main producers of nectarines (a hybrid of different peach strains) are China, Italy, Greece, Spain and Turkey.
Italy's annual harvest amounts to an average of about 450,000 tons, obtained from approximately 30,000 hectares of land; more than 70% of the national peach harvest originates from two regions: Emilia-Romagna and Campania.

NECTARINE CALENDAR

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
Harvest period                
Market presence                


CONSUMPTION AND STORAGE

Italy's annual pro capite consumption amounts to about 4 kilograms. The consumer perceives the nectarine as the summer fruit par excellence, on account of its characteristic taste, crisp pulp and thirst-quenching juiciness.
The nectarine is also energy boosting and high in nutritional value, in addition to which it has an important diuretic role and contributes to regulating the intestine. Its pulp is used in the cosmetics sector for refreshing face packs.
As well as being eaten fresh, nectarines can be used to make jams, jellies, syrups, juices and ice-creams. At a temperature a little lower than 0° and a relative humidity of 80-85%, nectarines can be kept for a period of 15-20 days.


NUTRITIONAL AND ENERGY INFORMATION FOR NECTARINE
(100 grams of product)

Edible part91%
Water90.7g
Proteins0.8g
Lipids0.1g
Glucides6.1g
Fiber2.1g
Energy27kcal
Sodium3mg
Potassium260mg
Iron0.4mg
Calcium4mg
Phosphorus20mg
Niacin0.5mg
Vitamin C4mg


RECIPE

Stuffed Nectarines

Ingredients: 8 nectarines, 6 Savoy biscuits, 2 tablespoons sultanas, 2 eggs, a little brandy.

Wash the nectarines, cut them in half and remove the stones. Scoop out some of the pulp from the centre of the fruit and mix it in with the crushed Savoy biscuits, sultanas sprinkled with brandy and egg-yolks. Pack this mixture into the hollows of the nectarines and place the fruit into a greased pyrex oven dish. Place a small nob of butter on each nectarine and sprinkle with sugar. Pour a glass of dry white wine into the pyrex dish. Bake for half an hour at 200 C°.

WHITE PULP NECTARINES

White-pulp nectarines are available on the market from July to September.
The particularity of this fruit is that it is very scented.
The more wide-spread varieties in Italy of white nectarines are Caldesi 2000, Caldesi 2010 and Snow Queen.

THE CALENDAR FOR WHITE PULP VARIETY

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
Harvest period                  
Market presence                  


MINIMUM QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS

Appearance
Entire, sound, clean and regularly shaped fruit.
Homogeneous ripening and appearance.

Colour
Skin: on yellow-green surface, an intense brilliant red colour.
Pulp: white, with red pigmentation around the stone.

Shape
Oval-round shape, slightly assymetrical.

Flavor and texture
Very firm pulp, very flavourable with intense scent, slightly acidulous.

Refraction index
Up to July 15th>=10
From July 16th to July 31st >=10.5
After July 31st >=11

Sale period
From July 10th to September 20th

Storage
At a temperature of 10-12°C, this fruit can be stored for 96 hours from harvesting.
At temperatures of 1-2 degrees, these varieties of nectarines can be conserved from 7 to 15 days.

Handling
Delicate fruit, incorrect handling may make the skin brown and damage the pulp.
Therefore, this fruit should not be sold in crates or packaging that entail considerable handling.

Things to avoid
Do not stack the product to avoid damage.
Due to the delicate nature of the fruit, a small quantity should be displayed at a time in order to avoid over-handling by customers.
The displayed product should also be rotated frequently.
Rapid changes in temperature are not particularly harmful.
YELLOW PULP NECTARINES

Yellow-pulp nectarines are available on the market from June to September.
The most well-known varieties in Italy of yellow nectarines are the Spring Red, Indipendence, Stark Red Gold, Maria Aurelia, Maria Laura, Maygrand, Aurelio Grand, Armking and Venus.

THE CALENDAR FOR YELLOW PULP VARIETY

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
Harvest period                
Market presence                


MINIMUM QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS

Appearance
Entire, sound, clean fruits.
Homogeneous ripening and appearance.

Colour
Skin: on light-yellow surface, at times with tendencies towards green, intense red, sometimes dark. Covers at least 60% of the surface.
Pulp: yellow, bright yellow, pigmented with red.

Shape
From round to oval, slightly asymmetrical.

Flavor and texture
Pulp: non fibrous. Good flavour and scent, slightly acidulous.

Refraction index
Up to July 15th>=10
From July 16th to July 31st >=10.5
After July 31st >=11

Sale period
From June 20th to September 20th

Storage
At a temperature of 8°C, this fruit can be stored for 72 hours from arrival at the warehouse.
At temperatures of 3-4°C, this variety can be maintained up to 5 days from the arrival of the goods.

Handling
Fruit that is fairy resistant to handling.
Can be stacked as long as this is done with due care.

Things to avoid
Avoid turning the crates of fruit over on the counters in order to avoid bruising.
Take care that customers do not over-handle the fruit and avoid rapid changes in temperature, which create condensation on the fruit and shorten their life-time.
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