[net.garden] Nectarine vs Peach

seb@mtgzz.UUCP (s.e.badian) (09/13/85)

	Is a nectarine a product of breeding non-fuzzy peaches until
they got a fuzzless peach? (Is this esoteric, or what?) They taste
the same. The only difference is the fuzz. I prefer nectarines since
I don't like fuzz with my fruit. Anyone know?

Sharon Badian
ihnp4!mtgzz!seb

...just running up that hill...

rew@cbosgd.UUCP (Bob Warren) (09/13/85)

In article <1154@mtgzz.UUCP>, seb@mtgzz.UUCP (s.e.badian) writes:
> 
> 	Is a nectarine a product of breeding non-fuzzy peaches until
> they got a fuzzless peach? 

No.  They crossed plums and peaches to get nectarines.  BTW, I think
nectarines do NOT taste like peaches.  They are not quite as sweet
and are jucier with a great tang.

Bob Warren
cbosgd!rew

scs@wucs.UUCP (Steve Swope) (09/14/85)

In article <1154@mtgzz.UUCP>, seb@mtgzz.UUCP (s.e.badian) writes:
> 
> 	Is a nectarine a product of breeding non-fuzzy peaches until
> they got a fuzzless peach? (Is this esoteric, or what?) They taste
> the same. The only difference is the fuzz. I prefer nectarines since
> I don't like fuzz with my fruit. Anyone know?
> 
A nectarine is the result of grafting a peach limb onto a plum tree, or
a plum limb onto a peach tree (I don't remember off-hand which)

				Steve Swope (aka scs@wucs.UUCP)

"Brigadier, A straight line may be the shortest path between
 two points, but it is by no means the most interesting!"

jeff@rtech.UUCP (Jeff Lichtman) (09/16/85)

> 
> 	Is a nectarine a product of breeding non-fuzzy peaches until
> they got a fuzzless peach? (Is this esoteric, or what?) They taste
> the same. The only difference is the fuzz. I prefer nectarines since
> I don't like fuzz with my fruit. Anyone know?
> 
> Sharon Badian

From "The Greengrocer" by Joe Carcione:

"Time and time again I've heard people insist that nectarines are either a
rather new variety of fuzzless peach or a cross between a peach and a plum.
Wrong on both counts.  Nectarines are a relative of the peach but are a
distinct variety, maybe even older than their other relatives, cherries and
apricots.  They originated in the Orient before the time of Christ and were
known to the ancient Greeks."

Besides being fuzzless, nectarines are less juicy than peaches and have a
fleshier texture.  To me, they also have a slightly different flavor from
peaches.
-- 
Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.)
aka Swazoo Koolak

{amdahl, sun}!rtech!jeff
{ucbvax, decvax}!mtxinu!rtech!jeff

wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (09/16/85)

I just read about this in a magazine article on peaches a day or so ago.
They explicitly stated that a nectarine is *not* a cross between a plum
and a peach, but merely the result of careful breeding of lightly-fuzzed
and not-fuzzed peaches. No plums involved at all. Of course, maybe they
were lying...

Will

de@moscom.UUCP (Dave Esan) (09/20/85)

> 
> 	Is a nectarine a product of breeding non-fuzzy peaches until
> they got a fuzzless peach? (Is this esoteric, or what?) They taste
> the same. The only difference is the fuzz. I prefer nectarines since
> I don't like fuzz with my fruit. Anyone know?
> 

I had always heard that a nectarine was a mutation of a peach, that the USDA
had propogated (one of their success stories.)

David Esan
(ritcv!moscom!de)