Dried Apricots
The apricot tree originates from Armenia. In antiquity the Romans brought the apricot plant, due to it’s believed aphrodisiac effect, to the Mediterranean region, where it is cultivated up until now.
In Iran, the harvest of the apricot fruit takes place in late May. During the drying process the fruits are sulfurized for 24 hours in order to kill insects and bacteria as well as to maintain the orange color of the fruit and to extend the shelf life. Untreated apricots have a brownish color. The sulfur must not exceed the guideline value of 2000 ppm in the EG. In the US, the limit is 3000 ppm. After the sulfuration, the apricot fruits undergo a drying process for several days. After the manual extraction of the kernels, the fruits are dried again for about four days before being cleaned and sorted by size at the factory.
Dried apricots are used in the bakery and confectionery industry or as snacks in dried fruit mixtures.
Dried apricots contain a high dose of Vitamin B5, as well as zinc, magnesium, potassium, iron, folic acid, and phosphorus. The contained fiber and and carotenoids stimulate the metabolism and digestion.