Peach Prunus persica The peach is thought to have originated in China, where it was probably cultivated from as early as the third millennium BC. It was seen as having very strong divine connections and associated with immortality and longevity; a soul in the Otherworld who ate a peach from the World Tree was said to live for 3000 years. The fabled peaches of the gardens of Samarkand were never allowed to leave the Imperial orchards at Changan. Eventually, however, the caravans that travelled through Kashmir took the peach to India, Persia and then to Greece and Rome, where they knew it as ‘the Persian fruit’ - hence the specific name. Confucius, who wrote down his thoughts about practically everything, wrote about the peach in the 5th century BC and the Classical cookbook by Apicius lists a patina, or paste, made with peaches and served with cumin sauce. The peach was growing in the London gardens of the wealthy by the late 16th century and the fruit was one of the favourites at the Elizabethan court, although the smoother nectarine was thought to be superior. The Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony introduced the peach tree to the Colonies in 1629 where it thrived and took so well to the climate in the Americas that some naturalists thought that it must be a native fruit. Peaches are low in calories, easy to digest and high in fibre, giving a gentle laxative and regulatory effect. If eaten unpeeled they provide over three-quarters of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C for an adult non-smoker and around 10% of the daily requirement of beta-carotene. Dried peaches provide roughly six times the calories of the fresh fruit, weight for weight and just 50g of dried peaches will provide two-fifths of the RDA for iron and one-sixth of potassium. Canned peaches, however, lose over 80% of their vitamin C content. 1 fresh peach, with skin, weighs around 100g and gives 35 kcalories energy, 2g dietary fibre, 11.10g carbohydrate, 6.6mg vitamin C, 4701 iµ beta-carotene, 0.11mg iron and a trace of potassium.