When it comes to Turkey, the first thing that comes to mind is grilled meat, ice cream, and of course, Turkish wine is also very famous. However, to the surprise of most people, Turkey's most famous is dried apricots, 80%-90% of the global dried apricot trade comes from Turkey, you can imagine how powerful Turkey's dried apricots are.
The country that spans both continents of Europe and Asia, bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, is a typical Mediterranean climate - large temperature difference between day and night, and long sunshine hours. Coupled with the fertile organic soil, it is very suitable for the growth of apricot trees, thus becoming the world's largest apricot producing area, Turkey's central city of Malatia, known as the "world's apricot capital", the annual production of dried apricots accounts for 85% of the global total.
As long as the trees in Turkey are more than 10 years old, they can be free of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The apricots grown from this apricot tree are all natural and have high nutritional value. After each apricot ripens, it is artificially pitted and dried for 15 days.
Why are dried apricots in Turkey black? Because dried black apricots require fully ripe apricots, drying and baking take a relatively long time. The black color of dried apricots is caused by the uneven intensity of sun exposure. In addition, the fructose in the apricot flesh will dye the outer skin caramel color, and the place where the fructose is concentrated will turn black.
Dried black apricots are of the highest quality and have a soft and sweet taste. Unlike many domestic fruits that look bright in color and bright yellow, very uniform and neat, uniform and consistent preserved fruits, most of them have undergone sulfur fumigation and pigment addition, although the appearance is good, the soft taste and nutrients are lost.
According to the measurement, 100 grams of dried apricots contain 610 micrograms of carotene, 147 micrograms of calcium, 738 micrograms of potassium, and 4.4 grams of dietary fiber. The mellow taste and rich nutrition make the dried Turkish apricots a small snack for leisure moments, as well as delicious soups and pastries.