The internet is full of fabulous facts about everything from current events to the history basket weaving and apricot fun facts. As we research for our daily content on food trucks, food carts and street food, we stumble upon some items of knowledge that we just did not know.

We have decided when these fun facts pop up, that we would share them with our readers in our section titled “Did You Know?”

For today’s Did You Know we will look at Apricot fun facts.

Apricot Fun Facts: Apricots originated in China and were introduced to the United States by Spanish explorers. The first commercially produced apricots were grown south of San Francisco in 1792.

  • January 9th is National Apricot Day.
  • California produces 95 percent of the U.S. apricot supply.
  • The fruit is a member of the rosaceae or rose family and is closely related to the similar-looking peach and plum.
  • Apricots are available from California from late spring through mid-summer and from Washington from mid-summer through early fall. Chilean fruit is available during the off-season.
  • Apricots should be stored at room temperature until ripe. Refrigerating apricots before they reach the desired ripeness will stop the ripening process. Apricots can be placed in a paper bag to speed up ripening.
  • Apricot trees generally grow to be 12 to 15 feet tall and will produce fruit for 20 to 25 years.
  • In Latin, apricot means precious. It probably refers to the fact that apricots ripen earlier than other summer fruit.
  • To select ripe apricots, look for fruit with a rich, orange color — not pale yellow or green — that’s a little soft to the touch.

Apricot Fun Facts We Missed

Let us know if we may have missed any apricot fun facts in the comment section below. If we can verify that the facts is just that, a fact, we will give the reader credit in the article.

Reference: Wikipedia: Fun Facts about Apricots.

There is a National Food Holiday for almost every day of the year. Don’t miss a single one! Find all of the National Food Holidays to spice up your food truck menu specials throughout the year.