Apricot

Family

Rosaceae

Habit

Tree

Height

8 m

Spread

7 m

Growth

medium

Lifespan

20 years

First yield

after 4 years

Full yield

after 5 years

Productive years

12–30 years

Yield per plant

up to 100 kg a year

Yield in cultivation

up to 20 t/ha

Energy yield

480 kcal per m² a year

Hardiness

zone 5–9

Shade tolerance

partial shade

Soil

Sand, Silt

Soil moisture

dry – moist

pH

6 – 7.5

Synonyms

Armeniaca vulgaris, Marille

Planned in gardens

7×

Times apply to the northern hemisphere in a temperate climate and shift with altitude and cultivar.

Edible: The fruits are eaten raw, cooked or dried, or made into jam, compote and spirit; the best cultivars are soft, juicy and full-flavoured, while the wild form bears smaller, sour to sweet-sour fruit. Wild trees in the sub-Himalaya yield around 47 kilograms of fruit a year according to Parmar and Kaushal (1982). With the kernels the cultivar decides: sweet-kernelled apricots such as the Hunza from northern Pakistan yield small, almond-sweet kernels that can be used like almonds. Kernels of bitter cultivars, by contrast, contain amygdalin, which releases hydrogen cyanide on chewing — a single large bitter kernel delivers up to three milligrams of cyanide. According to the EFSA assessment the acute reference dose is reached for adults at about two large or three small kernels, and for toddlers at half a small kernel. Bitter kernels therefore do not belong in the kitchen, not even as a substitute for bitter almonds.

Medicinal: Little about the apricot is medicinally established. An infusion of twigs or kernels is used in folk medicine as a cough suppressant, but controlled studies are lacking. The kernel oil is a mild, semi-drying skin-care oil. The essential point is the warning: bitter apricot kernels contain amygdalin, from which hydrogen cyanide is released on chewing. A single large bitter kernel delivers up to three milligrams of cyanide; EFSA considers the acute reference dose reached for adults at about two large or three small kernels, and for toddlers at half a small kernel. Since 2017 an EU-wide maximum of 20 milligrams of hydrogen cyanide per kilogram applies to raw kernels on the market. The widespread claim that apricot kernels or "vitamin B17" act against cancer is scientifically disproven; cases of poisoning are documented.

Other uses: An edible semi-drying oil is extracted from the seed. It is utilized for lighting. The oil has a skin-softening property, making it valuable in perfumery, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. A green dye is derived from the leaves. A dark gray to green dye can be obtained from the fruit. The wood is attractive, sturdy, and long-lasting, suitable for agricultural uses and more.

Site: Sheltered, warm and in full sun — south-west and south slopes and wall plantings are to be preferred, frost hollows are out. The apricot flowers from late March to early April and is regularly frosted in Central Europe: the position decides the crop more than the cultivar does. The soil must be deep, free-draining and fertile; on heavy, waterlogged ground the crop scarcely succeeds. Drought and sandy soils, by contrast, it takes well — on the Hungarian plain it was even planted to bind drifting sand. A tree of 3 to 8 metres depending on rootstock; allow four to six metres, or two to three when trained on a wall. Care: Prune in late summer after harvest, never in winter — in the warm season the wounds close quickly. Cut affected wood back generously into healthy tissue. Most cultivars are self-fertile; on heavier soils plum rootstocks do better than apricot ones. The most feared problem is apoplexy, the sudden death of individual branches or whole trees through vessels blocked with gum. It is encouraged by frost damage, unsuitable soil, feeding errors and infection with brown rot, bacterial canker or shot hole; trees in their third to seventh season are most at risk, and there is practically no cure.

Apricots raised from seed come out variable and bear smaller, often only moderately flavoured fruit; sowing is therefore mainly worthwhile for wild forms and rootstocks. Stones are taken after ripening, washed and cold-stratified over winter, then sown in an outdoor bed. Named cultivars are grafted, usually on apricot or damson rootstocks; the rootstock co-determines vigour and soil tolerance, with damson stocks performing better on heavier ground. Because the apricot is prone to apoplexy, scion material should come only from healthy stands, and wounds should be made in the warm season so they callus over quickly.

The apricot flowers very early, usually in March and before the leaves appear, making it one of the first substantial forage sources of the year. Nectar and pollen are both plentiful: around 33 wild bee species have been recorded at the flowers, along with notable numbers of bumblebees and mason bees of the genus Osmia, which are deployed deliberately for pollination in commercial orchards. Overwintering butterflies such as the peacock and the large tortoiseshell also use the early bloom. As a larval food plant its importance stays low, with only a few species recorded. Ripening fruit draws wasps, hornets and fruit-eating birds.

Special features: pronounced heat-lover, flowers late March/early April and regularly meets late frost in Central Europe → yields swing sharply; sheltered south position against a heat-storing wall matters more than cultivar choice; mostly self-fertile, second tree unnecessary; !apoplexy (sudden death of branches/trees), peak risk in years 3-7 → prune in late summer after harvest, never in winter!; barely cultivable on heavy, waterlogged soils;

Central Asia: north-western China to the Tian Shan. From there it travelled west through Persia and Armenia — the epithet armeniaca points to that staging post rather than to the true origin. Today it is grown throughout the warmer temperate zones, concentrated in Turkey, Iran, Uzbekistan and the Mediterranean, with Turkey supplying the bulk of the world harvest. In Central Europe cultivation is confined to distinctly warm situations: in Germany chiefly the Palatinate and the Rhine valley, in Austria the Wachau and Burgenland, in Switzerland the Valais. It does not naturalise here.

The wild apricot grows in the mountain regions from northern and north-eastern China across Central Asia to Turkey, in open woodland and on mountain slopes; pure stands are documented in Tibet at 700 to 3000 metres. These sites are marked by dry, hot summers and cold but snow-reliable winters. Its garden requirements follow directly: plenty of warmth, full sun, a deep, free-draining soil and as little alternation between mild and frosty weather in late winter as possible. It takes drought and sandy soils well — on the Hungarian plain it was even planted deliberately to bind drifting sand.