Where are honey peaches produced? An overview of the main producing regions
The honey peach is a spherical edible fruit with extremely high nutritional value. Its protein content is twice that of apples and grapes and seven times that of pears, its iron content is three times that of apples and five times that of pears, and it is rich in a variety of vitamins, with vitamin C being the highest. It has edible benefits such as beautifying the skin, clearing the stomach, moistening the lungs and reducing phlegm. Let us take a look below at where honey peaches are produced!
Where are honey peaches produced?
The honey peach originated in China, and is now widely cultivated in all provinces and regions of our country as well as planted throughout the world. Honey peaches are widely distributed across the country from south to north, and Hengjing in Wuzhong by Taihu Lake in the Jiangnan water town region is the most famous honey peach producing area. In recent years, the planted area of nectarines has shown an upward trend, flat peaches have also begun to sell well on the market, and ornamental peaches are in a class of their own. Although honey peaches are widely cultivated, they are one of the fruits that are more difficult to store and transport.
How much does a jin of honey peaches cost?
Honey peaches generally cost about 3 to 8 yuan per jin, and the better ones in supermarkets usually cost about 4 to 5 yuan per jin. The market price of honey peaches is not uniform, with huge regional differences, and even within the same region the price varies greatly depending on the sales venue. Supermarkets are usually much more expensive than street stalls. For example, authentic Nanhui honey peaches sell for 7 to 8 yuan per jin; they are very sweet and fragrant with large fruit, and a single one weighs over half a jin. But ordinary honey peaches can only sell for about 3 to 5 yuan per jin.
What varieties of honey peaches are there?
1. Yangshan honey peach: Yangshan honey peaches are known for their tender flesh and abundant juice, rich fragrance and mellow flavor, and fresh sweetness and delicacy, with a very fresh, tender and smooth mouthfeel. Compared with peaches from other places, Yangshan honey peaches are very tender; as soon as the skin is torn open, the juice flows out, and they generally do not become too hard to bite, so they are also called “Jade Dew Honey Peach”.
2. Xiangshan honey peach: Xiangshan honey peach, also known as Early Okubo, has medium tree vigor and a semi-spreading tree posture. The fruit is nearly round, with abundant pollen. The average single fruit weight is 204 grams, and the largest single fruit weighs 290 grams. The flesh is milky white, reddish near the core beneath the skin, soft in texture, with abundant juice, sweet taste and aroma, and a clinging stone. The soluble solids content is 12%, the fruit development period is 91 days, and the harvest period is early July.
3. Shenzhou honey peach: Shenzhou honey peaches are renowned at home and abroad and have a cultivation history of more than 2,000 years since the Han and Tang dynasties. The Tang dynasty poet Cui Hu's line “the maiden's face and the peach blossoms reflect each other's red” became an enduring masterpiece through the ages. Today, the cultivated Shenzhou “21st Century” honey peach is large, with a single fruit weight between 400 and 600 grams, and has brilliant coloring, with red showing through the yellow.
4. Fenghuang honey peach: Fenghuang honey peaches include more than 30 varieties, divided into extra-early, early, mid-season and late-maturing types. Extra-early peaches come onto the market from the end of May to early June, each weighing about 100 grams. Early-maturing varieties come onto the market in mid-to-late June, each weighing about 150 grams. Mid-season varieties come onto the market in July, with each fruit weighing 150 to 200 grams. Late-maturing varieties come onto the market in late August, with each fruit weighing 200 grams and reaching up to 500 grams.
5. Nanhui honey peach: Nanhui honey peaches have the main characteristics of a round and neat fruit shape, large individual size, attractive color, thin skin and thick flesh, dense flesh, few fibers, strong fragrance, abundant juice and sweet taste, and a soluble solids content of 14 to 15 degrees, reaching as high as 17 degrees, with the core slightly reddish. They have long been famous in Shanghai and across the country for their thin skin, thick flesh, abundant juice and sweet taste.
6. Longquan honey peach: Longquan is a fruit town renowned nationwide and is a honey peach base in China. For many years, Longquan honey peaches have been famous far and wide for their unique quality. Because of their strong marketability, they sell well across the country and enjoy the reputation of “the number one peach under heaven” in markets such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Beijing. They are also the only honey peaches in China that can meet the “Olympic peach” standard.
7. Fenghua honey peach: Fenghua honey peach is a famous specialty of Fenghua and is praised as “the best in China”. It has long enjoyed the reputation of “nectar and jade dew, a precious delicacy of the Yaochi”, and is renowned at home and abroad for its unique qualities: attractive fruit shape, fine and soft flesh, abundant juice and sweet taste, rich fragrance, thin and easily peeled skin, and melt-in-the-mouth texture that leaves an endless aftertaste.
8. Muyang honey peach: Muyang honey peach is a traditional local specialty of eastern Fujian with a long history. Because of its advantages of large fruit and small stone, attractive appearance, bright color, soft and juicy flesh, sweet taste, delicate fragrance and unique flavor, its fresh fruit shows strong competitiveness on the market and is deeply loved by consumers.
9. Mengyin honey peach: Mengyin honey peach is a specialty of Mengyin County in Shandong Province and a national agricultural product geographical indication product of our country. With its uniquely favorable natural conditions and long planting history, it has been rated as the “capital of Chinese honey peaches”. The Mengyin honey peaches produced there are brilliant in color, fine in flesh, sweet as honey in juice, large in size and fragrant in taste, and rich in nutrition, and are deeply welcomed by consumers.