Apricot nutrition facts

Apricot nutrition facts

• Full of fragrance and sweet, golden-orange apricots are another summer season delicacies of Asian origin. These much-prized fruits were first brought to the Europe by Greeks, who named them as “golden eggs of the sun."
• Botanically, the fruit is closely related is sharing with them in the broader Rosaceae family of fruit-trees in the genus; Prunus. Scientific name: Prunus armenia. Today, some of the chief producing regions of this fruit are Turkey, Iran, Italy, France, Spain, Syria, Greece, and China.
• Apricot is a medium sized deciduous tree that grows best in well-drained mountainous slope soils. During the spring, it bears plenty of beautiful pinkish-white flowers that attract bees. The fruits have almost uniform size, 4-5 cm in diameter, and weigh about 35 g. In structure; the fruit is a drupe, consisting of a centrally located single pit surrounded by crunchy, aromatic edible flesh. The seed is enclosed in a hard stony shell, often called as "stone."
• Fresh, ripe apricots have a sweet flavor similar. Sun dried organic apricots fruits are nutritiously denser than fresh ones, although they have less in vitamin-C content. Its seed-kernel is also edible and taste . Oil extracted from these kernels has been used in cooking.

Health benefits of apricots

•  Fresh fruits are low in calories, composing just 50 calories per 100 g weight. Nonetheless, they are rich source of dietary fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. The fruits are enriched with numerous health promoting phyto-chemicals; that helps prevent heart disease, reduce LDL, ("bad cholesterol") levels and offer protection against cancers.
• Apricots are excellent sources of vitamin-A, and carotenes. 100 g fresh fruits carry 1926 IU or 64% of daily-required levels of vitamin A. Both of these compounds are known to have antioxidant properties and are essential for vision. Vitamin-A is also required for maintaining healthy mucusa and skin. Consumption of natural fruits rich in carotenes helps protect the body from lung and oral cavity cancers.
•  Fresh fruits contain vitamin-C, another natural anti-oxidant. Vitamin-C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful oxygen-free radicals.
• They are an also good source of minerals such as potassium, iron, zinc, calcium and manganese. Potassium is a heart-healthy mineral; an important component of cell and body fluids that help regulate heart rate and blood pressure.  
• The total anti-oxidant or ORAC value of raw apricots is 1115 umol TE/100 g. Much of this in these fruits comes from some important health promoting flavonoid poly phenolic anti-oxidants such as lutein, zea xanthin and beta cryptoxanthin. Altogether, these compounds act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging, cancers and various disease process.
• Further, zea-xanthin, a carotenoid selectively absorbed into the retinal "macula lutea" in the eyes where it is thought to provide anti-oxidant and protective light-filtering functions. Thus, consumption of fruits like apricots rich in zea-xanthin helps eyes protect from age-related macular disease (AMRD), especially in the elderly people.

• Selection and storage

  

• Apricot season lasts from May until September. Buy fresh, well ripe fruits that feature uniform golden-orange color and rich aroma.
• Avoid those with pale yellow color as they were picked too soon. Ripened apricots are delicate and should be handled with care.
• Store them inside the refrigerator in an egg tray set at high relative humidity. Use them as early as possible.
• Sundried apricots are equally popular as fresh fruit and can be easily obtained in the markets worldwide.

Preparation and Serving method

• Wash fresh fruits gently in cold water and pat dry in soft cloth. Ripe ones can be eaten as a whole including skin to get the maximum benefits.
• · Sliced sections of the fruit can be a great addition to salads.
• · They are also used jam, marmalade, syrup, and jelly preparation.
• · Sundried organic fruits can be used in sweet/confectionary preparations.

Safety profile

• In order to extend their shelf-life, dried apricots are often treated with sulfites which prevents oxidation and bleachs colors. This is as in the case of other dried fruits etc. However, sulfite treated bright orange-colored fruits can be a cause of acute bronchospasm in sensitized people who are suffering from asthma episodes. Therefore, sulfite sensitive persons can instead safely use unsulfured dry fruits that have brown color.