All About Cherries

All About Cherries! The cherry goes a long way back in history. It is believed to have been brought to the Romans from Persia. The English word “cherry” can be traced back the Latin Cerasus. Which is thought to come from classical Greek. The cherry is a fleshy fruit and is known for its great taste and bright red color. The shade of red does vary depending on the variety of cherry. The cherry is in the same family as apricots plums, peaches and almonds. The family is Roseceae, the genius is Prunus. The sub-genius Cerasus is characterized by its flowers and by having a small groove on one side of the fruit. Cherries are native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere and are found in America, Europe and Asia. In North America, the Great Lakes region is known for its abundance of cherries. Cherries are also found in the Eastern US, Wisconsin, California and Washington. In Canada, British Columbia and Ontario, cherries are also grown. Northern Michigan is known for their tart cherries and Traverse City, Michigan is known as the "Cherry Capital of The World." Every year Traverse City hosts the National Cherry Festival. Cherries usually are considered expensive when compared to other types of fruit. The main reason for this is because growing cherries requires more labor and irrigation to produce the crop and also because of the greater likelihood that the crop will be damaged by wind, rain and ice storms. In 2003, the worldwide production of domesticated cherries was about 45698 million tons. About 75% of the cherries are produced in Europe. Cherries are known for there brightly colored red fruit and beautiful pink flowers and also for their medicinal benefits. For many years the cherry as been known to reduce pain and inflammation. Not until fairly recently did medical science show that it is the anthocyanins in the skin of the cherry that make it so beneficial.