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Cherry

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This article is about the Cherry berry also classified as fruit, for the ornamental tree, See Cherry Blossom.

Red Cherry
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Division:
Class:
Order:
Family:
Subfamily:
Genus:
Subgenus:
Cerasus
Species

Several, including:
Prunus apetala
Prunus avium (Wild/Sweet Cherry)
Prunus campanulata
Prunus canescens
Prunus cerasifera
Prunus cerasus (Sour Cherry)
Prunus concinna
Prunus conradinae
Prunus dielsiana
Prunus emarginata (Bitter Cherry)
Prunus fruticosa
Prunus ilicifolia
Prunus incisa
Prunus litigiosa
Prunus lusitana ("Ginja" Cherry)
Prunus mahaleb (Saint Lucie Cherry)
Prunus maximowiczii
Prunus nipponica
Prunus pensylvanica (Pin Cherry)
Prunus pilosiuscula
Prunus rufa
Prunus sargentii
Prunus serrula
Prunus serrulata (Japanese Cherry)
Prunus speciosa
Prunus subhirtella
Prunus tomentosa (Nanking Cherry)
Prunus x yedoensis (Yoshino Cherry)

Cherries (sweet, edible parts)
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy263 kJ (63 kcal)
16 g
Sugars13 g
Dietary fibre2 g
0.2 g
1.1 g
Vitamins and minerals
VitaminsQuantity
%DV
Vitamin C
8%
7 mg
MineralsQuantity
%DV
Iron
2%
0.4 mg
Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[1] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[2]

The word cherry refers to a fleshy fruit (drupe) that contains a single stony seed. The cherry belongs to the family Rosaceae, genus Prunus, along with almonds, peaches, plums, apricots and bird cherries. The subgenus, Cerasus, is distinguished by having the flowers in small corymbs of several together (not singly, nor in racemes), and by having a smooth fruit with only a weak groove or none along one side. The subgenus is native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with two species in America, three in Europe, and the remainder in Asia. The word "cherry" comes from the French word "cerise", which comes in turn from the Latin words cerasum and Cerasus.

Background

The cherry is generally understood to have been brought to Rome from northeastern Anatolia, historically known as the Pontus region, in 72 BC.[3] The city of Giresun in present-day Turkey was known to the ancient Greeks as Choerades or Pharnacia and later as Kerasous or Cerasus, < Kerason < Kerasounta < Kerasus "horn" (for peninsula) in Greek + ounta "Greek toponomical suffix". The name later mutated into Kerasunt (sometimes written Kérasounde or Kerassunde).

The English word cherry, French cerise, Spanish cereza, and Southern Italian dialect cerasa (standard Italian ciliegia) all come completely from Classical Greek κέρασος "cherry", which has been identified with Cerasus. The cherry was first exported to Europe from Cerasus in Roman times. [4] By the Middle Ages, cherries had disappeared in England. They were reestablished at Tyneham, near Sittingbourne in Kent by order of Henry VIII, who had tasted them in Flanders.[5][6][7]

The Wild Cherry (P. avium) has given rise to the Sweet Cherry to which most cherry cultivars belong, and the Sour Cherry (P. cerasus) is used mainly for cooking. Both species originate in Europe and western Asia; they do not cross-pollinate each other. The other species, although having edible fruit, are not grown extensively for consumption, except in northern regions where the two main species will not grow. Irrigation, spraying, labor, and their propensity to damage from rain and hail make cherries relatively expensive. Nonetheless, there is high demand for the fruit.

Major commercial cherry orchards in Europe extend from the Iberian peninsula east to Asia Minor, and to a smaller extent may also be grown in the Baltic States and southern Scandinavia. In the United States, most sweet cherries are grown in Washington, California and Oregon.[8] Important sweet cherry cultivars include "Bing", "Brooks", "Tulare", "King", and "Rainier". Both Oregon and Michigan provide light-coloured "Royal Ann" ('Napoleon'; alternately "Queen Anne") cherries for the maraschino cherry process. Most sour (also called tart) cherries are grown in Michigan, followed by Utah, New York, and Washington[8]. Additionally, native and non-native cherries grow well in Canada (Ontario and British Columbia). Sour cherries include Nanking and Evans Cherry. Traverse City, Michigan claims to be the "Cherry Capital of the World", hosting a National Cherry Festival and making the world's largest cherry pie. The specific region of Northern Michigan that is known the world over for tart cherry production is referred to as the "Traverse Bay" region. Farms in this region grown many varieties of cherries and companies like Traverse Bay Farms sell the fruit of the region.

In Australia the New South Wales town of Young is famous as the "Cherry Capital of Australia", and hosts the internationally famous National Cherry Festival. Popular varieties include the "Montmorency", "Morello", "North Star", "Early Richmond", "Titans" and "Lamberts".

Cherries have a very long growing season and can grow anywhere, including the great cold of the tundra.[citation needed] In Australia they are usually at their peak around Christmas time, in southern Europe in June, in America in June, and in the UK in mid July, always in the summer season. In many parts of North America they are among the first tree fruits to ripen.

Annual world production (as of 2007) of domesticated cherries is about 2 million tonnes. Around 40% of world production originates in Europe and around 13% in the United States. The US is the world's second largest single country producer, after Turkey.[9]

Flowers

Besides the fruit, cherries also have attractive flowers, and they are commonly planted for their flower display in spring; several of the Asian cherries are particularly noted for their flower displays. The Japanese sakura in particular are a national symbol celebrated in the yearly Hanami festival. Many flowering cherry cultivars (known as 'ornamental cherries') have the stamens and pistils replaced by additional petals ("double" flowers), so are sterile and do not bear fruit. They are grown purely for their flowers and decorative value. The most common of these sterile cherries is the cultivar 'Kanzan'. Cherry trees provide food for the caterpillars of several Lepidoptera. See List of Lepidoptera which feed on Prunus.

Cherries

Cherries contain anthocyanins, the red pigment in berries. Cherry anthocyanins have been shown to reduce pain and inflammation in rats.[10] Anthocyanins are also potent antioxidants under active research for a variety of potential health benefits. According to a study funded by the Cherry Marketing a Institute presented at the Experimental Biology 2008 meeting in San Diego, rats that received whole tart cherry powder mixed into a high-fat diet didn’t gain as much weight or build up as much body fat, and their blood showed much lower levels of indicators of the kind of inflammation that has been linked to heart disease and diabetes. In addition, they had significantly lower blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides than the other rats.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". FDA. Archived from the original on 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  2. ^ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). ISBN 978-0-309-48834-1. PMID 30844154. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  3. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pontus" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  4. ^ A History of the Vegetable Kingdom - Page 334
  5. ^ The curious antiquary John Aubrey (1626-1697) noted in his memoranda "Cherries were first brought into Kent tempore H. viii, who being in Flanders, and likeing the Cherries, ordered his Gardener, brought them hence, and propagated them in England". (Oliver Lawson Dick, ed. Aubrey's Brief Lives. Edited from the Original Manuscripts, 1949, p. xxxv.
  6. ^ "All the cherry gardens and orchards of Kent are said to have been stocked with the Flemish cherry from a plantation of 105 acres in Teynham, made with foreign cherries, pippins, and golden rennets, done by the fruiterer of Henry VIII." (Kent On-line: Teynham Parish)
  7. ^ The civic coat of arms of Sittingbourne with the crest of a "cherry tree fructed proper" were only granted in 1949, however.
  8. ^ a b Cherry Production National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA, Retrieved on August 19, 2008.
  9. ^ FAOSTAT ProdSTAT Crops Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Retrieved on August 19, 2008.
  10. ^ Tall JM, Seeram NP, Zhao C, Nair MG, Meyer RA, Raja SN (2004). "Tart cherry anthocyanins suppress inflammation-induced pain behavior in rat". Behav. Brain Res. 153 (1): 181–8. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2003.11.011. PMID 15219719.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Tart Cherries May Reduce Heart/Diabetes Risk Factors Newswise, Retrieved on July 7, 2008.