Food Encyclopedia

plumcot

The original cross between a plum and an apricot, created by renowned American horticulturist Luther Burbank. There are now several varieties of this fruit, all of which are a cross of these two fruits. All types of this cross, particularly the plumcot, have an intensely sweet and fruit flavor that, though akin to that of its parents, is likened to an incomparable blend of fruit juices. The true plumcot, with its generally equal heritage of plum and apricot, has a plumlike shape, smooth, dark red skin and an almost spicy flesh. The other two most notable apricot-plum crosses are the aprium (which has a predominantly apricot parentage and closely resembles the apricot in shape, flavor and skin fuzz) and the pluot (which has a predominantly plum parentage resulting in the plum's shape and generally smooth skin). Plumcots are more readily available than apriums and pluots, and can be found from May to October in produce markets and some supermarkets. Besides the United States, plum and apricot hybrids are also being produced throughout the world in Chile, Europe, South America and South Africa.