Around the World in 40 Fruits – Volume 10 – (Article 10 of 40)
By Dr. Marli Botha
Cherry, The Sweet Taste of Albanian Tradition. Albania, a country known for its stunning landscapes, has cherries as its national fruit. These sweet, juicy fruits represent the rich agricultural traditions of the nation. Cherries are not only enjoyed fresh but are also used to make jams, desserts, and a famous Albanian liqueur called “Visniak.”
Let’s pick our way through the fascinating world of cherries – where tradition meets taste!
- Cherries are classified as stone fruits (drupes) with a hard pit or seed inside.
- They come in various colors like red, yellow, and even purple, with sweet cherries having a lower acid content than tart cherries.
- Cherries are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, including anthocyanins which give them their color.
- Tart cherries are a natural source of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep. Cherries may therefore help improve sleep quality, boost heart health, and relieve some symptoms of arthritis and gout.
- Cherry trees grow in areas with moderate climates, blooming in spring and producing fruit in the summer.
- A single tree can yield enough cherries to make 28 pies.
- Thanks to the introduction of mechanical tree shakers, the laborious process of hand-picking cherries now takes a mere seven seconds per tree. Efficiency has its price, though. Because the machine is so intense, it shortens a tree’s life by seven years.
- Japanese cherry blossom trees don’t produce fruit.Despite the name, cherry trees don’t always produce cherries. Most varieties are ornamental, not fruit-bearing, trees.
