Stone fruit represents various fruit types that have a stone in the middle, such as peaches, nectarines, plums, lychees, mangoes, coconuts, and cherries as well as coffee beans, olives, almonds, dates and pistachios.
Unlike pome fruits, such as apples and pears which have a “core” filled with seeds, the pip in the stone fruit is not a seed but a protective layer surrounding the seed. Most stone fruit have a large stone, but a few, such as raspberries, have a multitude of small stones.
The exact origin of apricots is uncertain, but the fruit is thought to be native to northern and western China, Central Asia, Japan, and Kor...
The origin of the nectarine is unknown, but it is thought to have developed more than 4 000 years ago in China, roundabout when the domesti...
Peaches are native to the north-west of China. They are believed to have been domesticated along the Yangzi River, where fossilised peach st...
The origin of plums can be traced along two lines; the common European plum, which originated around the Black and Caspian sea, and the Japa...
South Africa is the largest stone fruit producer in Africa but only accounts for about 16% of production in the Southern Hemisphere, and onl...