Cherry

The cherry is the fleshy fruit of several species in the genus Prunus, a group that also includes plums, peaches and apricots. Most cultivated cherries eaten fresh come from two main species: the sweet cherry, Prunus avium, and the sour cherry, Prunus cerasus. Depending on the variety, cherries may be bright red, deep red, yellow or nearly black when ripe. Botanically, a cherry is a drupe, meaning that its fleshy part surrounds a hard stone containing the seed.

After flowering, the fruit develops from the ovary of the flower, while the stone forms around the seed. Cherry trees usually bloom in spring, producing white or pale pink flowers. Their history of cultivation goes back many centuries in Eurasia, where sweet and sour cherries were selected and grown for different uses. Today, numerous varieties are cultivated in temperate regions around the world, with differences in flavor, firmness, color, size and ripening time.

Cherries are commonly eaten fresh, but they are also widely used in cooking and food processing. They can be added to pies, cakes, sauces, jams and other desserts, while sour cherries are especially useful in cooking because their higher acidity gives dishes a more pronounced flavor. Some varieties are also dried or processed into juices and other products. The red and purple colors found in many cherries come partly from natural pigments called anthocyanins.

Cherries provide dietary fiber, vitamin C in moderate amounts and several other nutrients. Their sweetness mainly comes from naturally occurring sugars, whereas sour cherries contain more organic acids, which create their sharper taste. The stone is hard and should not be swallowed, particularly because it can present a choking risk. In spring, cherry blossoms also attract bees and other pollinating insects, which visit the flowers for nectar and pollen.