10 interesting facts about Apricots
- The apricot was known in Armenia during ancient times, and has been cultivated there for so long it is often thought to be native to there. Its scientific name Prunus armeniaca (Armenian plum) derives from that assumption.
- About 95 percent of the apricots grown in the U.S. come from California.
- Greek mythology experts believe apricots are the “golden apples” of Hesperides — the fruit Hercules was ordered to pick in the eleventh of his twelve labors.
- Dreaming of apricots, in English folklore, is said to be good luck.
- The fruit, ranging in a size between 1.5 cm to 2.5 cm in diameter, has high fiber content very low calorie content.
- In one ounce apricots contain enough beta carotene to supply 20 percent of your daily vitamin A requirements. Due to their high fiber to volume ratio, dried apricots are sometimes used to relieve constipation or induce diarrhea. Effects can be felt after eating as few as three.
- Its introduction to Greece is attributed to Alexander the Great.
- Dried apricots are an excellent source of potassium, as well as a good source of iron, Vitamin C and calcium.
- In Latin, apricot means “precious”.
- In Europe, apricots were long considered an aphrodisiac, and were used in this context in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and as an inducer of childbirth, as depicted in John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi.
