Pope's Apricot

Product description

The biricoccolo (Prunus dasycarpa) comes from the cross between the natural apricot (Prunus armeniaca) and cherry (Prunus cerasifera). Other names are: plumcot, Pruna cresammola, black apricot, Pope's apricot, and albicoccovioletto. They are ancient fruits, known since '700, but not widely distributed. The plant is quite vigorous, can reach 5-6 meters in height, resists cold and can be cultivated in plains and hills. They are normally grafted onto myrobalan. The plant has characters that resemble the two species from which it comes: the skin of the fruit is smooth like an apricot and even the leaves have a similar shape. The flesh is rather juicy, sweet and a little sour, more like plums.

The fruits ripen in the summer, from June to July. As well as being eaten fresh, the fruits can be used to make jam. Skin smooth, thin, barely hairy, orange-violet. Pulp, sweet taste reminiscent of apricot with the aroma of plum, is red-orange.

The fruits are round, slightly ellipsoidal and have an average weight of 25-40 grams. The skin is slightly fluffy with a yellow background color and dark red. The flesh is tender, juicy, intense yellow color with red-it has a sweet, slightly acidic, aromatic and with a more or less strong smell of apricot or plum. The kernel is flattened, elongated, medium in size (30-40% smaller than an apricot kernel). The harvest season runs from June 20th to July 10th - 15th in the northern Italian regions, and runs from June 1st to June 20th in the central Italian regions.

Ripening is gradual and the fruits are harvested when they are completely ripe. The kernels are small and do not exceed 10% of the fruit.