Luther Burbank in his book, Fruit Improvement published in 1921, claimed that the ancient ancestor of the wooly peach developed fuzz in an environment as peculiarly stressful regarding moisture, wind, sunshine, insect, and fungus presence, “the fuzz evolved as a protection against those enemies,” and thus, the peach was preserved, but the nectarine fruit with a smoother skin was destroyed as in the example of evolutionary concept of survival of the fittest.
Burbank successfully hybridized a nectarine with an almond in an attempt to create a nectarine type pulp and a pit with the edible desirability quality of almond nuts. The bitter taste of the plum pit was supposedly replaced with the nutty flavor of commercial almonds.
Nectarine fruit can be colored white, yellow, orange, or red and the pulp also exhibits these colorations. Nectarine colors are brighter than those seen in peaches, because the fuzz on the peach tends to dilute the bright color of the skin below. Nectarines when compared to peaches are smaller, rounder, sweet or more acidic, and denser. Nectarines are more susceptible to disease rot and bruising presumably, because the fuzz offers a buffer zone of protection to the peach. Nectarines have a richer flavor and are more aromatic than peaches, because they are grown as freestone cultivars, which show these same contrasting differences from peaches, which are principally grown as clingstone fruits for American markets.
Nectarine trees and nectarine fruit are indistinguishable from peaches in all parts phenotypically, except for the presence of the fuzz. Nectarines could more appropriately be described as a fuzzless cultivar of peaches, Prunus persica nectarina. The nectarine fruit is most often eaten with the tender skin on it, and it ripens mostly in June through September. Most of the national production of nectarines comes from California with 95% of the production, but recently orchards of new nectarine cultivars are being established in Georgia and in South Carolina. The nectarine ripe fruit will keep for up to 5 days in the coldest part of a refrigerator. The nectarine can be judged ripe, when it is fragrant and soft to the touch on the tree.
The nectarine is loaded with health benefits, such as antioxidants, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, beta-carotene, and Potassium.