Peaches

Category: Food

Type

Voluntary

Introduction and description

Prunus persica - (L.)Batsch  Is the botanical name given to the Peach, Flowering Peach, Ornamental Peach, or Common Peach, in the family Rosaceae and also known as Amygdalis persicus or  Persica vulgaris.

The fruit has a fuzzy soft skin and inside a seed/stone.  If the skin is smooth, we give it the name of  nectarine, although nectarines and peaches are the same botanically.  The variety P. persica var. nucipersica (or var. nectarina), is the nectarine.  Several genetic studies have concluded nectarines are produced due to a recessive allele, whereas a fuzzy peach skin is dominant.  Some men are like this [sorry, my little joke].

The seed/nut can contain hydrogen cyanide, which at overdose levels is considered a poison.  In the first place, you do not eat the seed, you eat the flesh, as such you will suffer no harm, however, a homeopathically small amount of this chemical is in the flesh, where it has a beneficial effect, as it appears to help with the gut flora.

The plant is a native of China and China is still the biggest grower of peaches.  Wild trees in the Himalayas can yield as much as 36kg or so of fruit a year.   Fruits of the wild peach are richer in nutrients than the cultivated forms.

The peach is also symbolic, and is especially revered in eastern culture.

 Background

A great many claims are made about the peach and its leaves and seed.  I am not going to repeat them.  Instead it is best if you look at the observations which have some scientific support for them.

But if you look at the nutritional content of the peach you should be able to see that it is a very nutritious food, very high in minerals and vitamins as well as many other nutrients.  You would need to take care about the omega-3, omega-6 fatty acid balance, but on the whole peaches are simply good for you, especially as they have a high vitamin C content.  It is quite likely that it is this high nutritional value, coupled with its ability to restore some of your gut flora, that has given it such a good reputation medicinally. 

There is another property of the peach rarely mentionned. 

What will be apparent if you look at the list below of chemical constituents,  is that this sample contained some heavy metals - lead and iron, for example.  The presence of these minerals is an indication that they were present in the soil, but it also means that the fruit of a peach is able to take up heavy metals.  Many plants will take up heavy metals in their leaf and root systems and stems or branches, but the fruit may remain free.  It appears that the fruit of the peach is not free and as such care should be taken on where the plant is grown and where you get your peaches from.  Italian peaches grown deep in the heart of the southern Italian contryside, for example, or Chinese peaches straight from the Himalayas, are probably heavy metal free; but peaches grown near some of the USA big cities may well not be, given the amount of lead that was once used in American gas guzzler cars.

Heavy metals for which our bodies have no use are shown in the table below in Red.  Note that in time, it may be found that some of these metals do have a use, feeding our intestinal eco-sysytem, but for the time being they are regarded as not needed and in some cases not wanted.

If we look at this in a positive way, the peach is a natural chelating agent.  If we can find an organically grown source of peaches, from an area free of toxins, we have a healing agent.

Chemical constituents

The following table was derived from Dr Duke's Plant database, it shows the chemical in a peach, or at least the sample used and the Lo ppm, Hi ppm.

Minerals - present in the peach are shown below in blue.  Vanadium is not present, but has a specialised, biochemical roles as structural or functional cofactors in other organisms, and is thus only possibly needed by humans.  Chloride  is also not present, nor is Iodine - so you would need to add some seaweed to your fruit salad [I jest].  The minerals present are:

• Sulphur 
• Arsenic
• Silicon
• Boron
• Potassium - high levels
• Cobalt
• 

   
  Chromium
• Sodium 
• Calcium 
• Phosphorus 
• Magnesium 
• Selenium 
• Iron 
• Copper
• Manganese 
• Zinc
• Molybdenum

As you can see a Peach is a very good source of essential minerals.

 

Vitamins - are shown in green.  A peach does not contain,  Vitamin B7 [also known as biotin],  Vitamin B12 [also known as cobalamin],  Vitamin D [also known as ergocalciferol], or  Vitamin K [also known as naphthoquinoids] although there seems to be some disagreement here in the various sources I looked at, some say it has.  Vitamin C content is high.

 

 

• Vitamin B1  -  also known as thiamin.
• Vitamin B2  -  also known as riboflavin. 
• Vitamin B3  -  also known as niacin. 
• Vitamin B5  -  also known as pantothenic acid.
• Vitamin B9 [also known as folic acid or folate or folacin] 
• Vitamin C  -  also known as ascorbic acid.  Peaches are high in Vitamin C 
• Vitamin E  - also known as tocopherol.
• Vitamin B6  - also known as pyridoxine
• Vitamin A  - also known as Beta carotene 

 Other miscellaneous nutrients - the lists of vitamins and mineral shown above are the generally accepted ones, but in addition to these we have a few unclassified nutrients.  Choline  is not present, [although there seems to be disagreement here among sources], it is a water-soluble essential nutrient. It must be consumed through the diet for the body to remain healthy.  Cyanide, in another form, is present, it has an essential role in very small doses in feeding our friendly bacteria.

Essential Fatty acids - are shown in pink.  ALA - α-Linolenic acid is not present, specifically, although the more general PUFA category may imply it is.  LA - Linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid is present. 

Essential amino acids  are shown in violet.  Peaches do not contain Phenylalanine, and of the six amino acids considered conditionally essential in the human diet, cysteine is not present, nor is glutamine, although glutamic acid is.  But, Peaches do contain Serine, which is a precursor to several amino acids including glycine and cysteine.  It is also the precursor to numerous other metabolites, including sphingolipids and folate, as such although some essential amino acids are not directly present, the precursors are.

• Isoleucine
• Lysine
• 

   
  Leucine
• Methionine
• Threonine
• Tryptophan
• Valine
• Histidine
• arginine
• glycine
• proline and
• tyrosine.

 Given that manic depressives and schizophrenics are often given lithium and peaches appear to contain lithium, at least this sample did, perhaps these poor people should be given a peach a day to eat, instead of medication.

A-DECALACTONE , , ACETIC-ACID , , ALANINE , 420, 3402 ALPHA-TOCOPHEROL , 10, 86 ALUMINUM , 2.25, 1050 ANTHOCYANIDIN , , ARGININE , 180, 1458 ARSENIC , 0.001, 0.053 ASCORBIC-ACID , 14, 1127 ASH , 4000, 150000 ASPARTIC-ACID , 1170, 8586 BARIUM , 0.045, 30 BENZALDEHYDE , , BENZYL-ACETATE , , BENZYL-ALCOHOL , , BETA-CAROTENE , 0, 30 BORON , 1, 150 BROMINE , , CADMIUM , 0, 0.45 CALCIUM , 18, 8850 CARBOHYDRATES , 111000, 910000 CHROMIUM , 0.01, 2.25 CITRIC-ACID , , COBALT , 0.005, 0.45 COPPER , 0.3, 30 CYANIDIN-3-MONOGLUCOSIDE , , CYSTINE , 60, 486 ETHANOL , , ETHYL-ACETATE , , ETHYL-BENZOATE , , FAT , 860, 18000 FIBER , 6210, 162000 FLAVONOL-GLYCOSIDES , , 10 FLUORINE , 0.1, 0.8 FOLACIN , 0.031, 0.303 FORMIC-ACID , , GAMMA-HEPTALACTONE , , GAMMA-HEXALACTONE , , GAMMA-NONALACTONE , , GLUTAMIC-ACID , 1060, 8586 GLYCINE , 240, 1944 HEXANOIC-ACID , , HEXYL-ACETATE , , HEXYL-FORMATE , , HISTIDINE , 130, 1053 IRON , 1, 99 ISOLEUCINE , 200, 1620 ISOVALERIANIC-ACID , , L-MALIC-ACID , , LEAD , 0.3, 3 LEUCINE , 400, 3240 LINOLEIC-ACID , 440, 3565 LINOLENIC-ACID , 10, 80 LITHIUM , 0.06, 0.6 LUTEIN , 0.14, 2.8 LYCOPENE , , LYSINE , 230, 1863

MAGNESIUM , 68, 850 MALONIC-ACID , , MANGANESE , 0, 22.5 MERCURY , 0, 0.007 METHIONINE , 170, 1377 METHYL-ACETATE , , MOLYBDENUM , 0.1, 1.05 MUFA , 340, 2755 NIACIN , 10, 82 NICKEL , 0.15, 4.5 NITROGEN , 1400, 13075 OLEIC-ACID , 340, 2755 PALMITIC-ACID , 90, 730 PALMITOLEIC-ACID , 10, 80 PANTOTHENIC-ACID , 2, 14 PECTINS , , 8600 PENTANOIC-ACID , , PENTYL-ACETATE , , PHOSPHORUS , 90, 2000 PHYTIN-PHOSPHORUS , , 10 PHYTOSTEROLS , 100, 810 POTASSIUM , 1275, 22072 PROLINE , 290, 2349 PROTEIN , 6850, 63000 PUFA , 450, 3645 QUERCETIN-3'-GLUCOSIDE , , QUERCETIN-3-0-GALACTOSIDE , , QUERCETIN-3-0-RUTINOSIDE , , QUERCETIN-3-DIGLUCOSIDE , , QUERCETIN-3-O-RHAMNOSIDE , , RIBOFLAVIN , 1, 4 SELENIUM , 0, 0.003 SERINE , 320, 2592 SFA , 100, 810 SILICON , 4, 30 SILVER , 0.015, 0.3 SODIUM , 0, 366 STEARIC-ACID , 10, 80 STRONTIUM , 0.225, 45 SUCROSE , 20000, 100000 SULFUR , 3, 700 TANNIN , , 8000 THIAMIN , 1, 2 THREONINE , 270, 2187 TITANIUM , 0.075, 30 TRANS-2-HEXENYL-ACETATE , , TRYPTOPHAN , 20, 162 TYROSINE , 180, 1458 VALINE , 380, 3078 VIT-B-6 , 0.2, 1.6 WATER , 835000, 964000 ZEAXANTHIN , , ZINC , 0.45, 37.5 ZIRCONIUM , 0.3, 4.5

Method

Peaches are nicest eaten raw, all on their own, but they can be added successfully to salads, they can be made into a delicious jam, they can be grilled and served with mascarpone cheese, they can be used in a delicious chicken curry made with coconut milk.  They are delicious filled with cottage cheese and topped with nuts.  So in fact they are very versatile.

“When fully ripe, the fruit of the best forms are very juicy with a rich delicious flavour”.  The flesh can be white, a rich yellow or even a dark rich red colour.  The red coloured flesh has just the hint of the taste of blood oranges.

Although I have concentrated on the fruit it is worth knowing that the leaves are used in France to produce an infused wine known as vin de pêche. This is created by blending peach leaves, brandy, red wine and sugar for 10 to 14 days until ready to drink. A recipe can be found using this LINK, the nutrient value will of course be different from the table above.

 

Related observations

Healing observations

• Cyanide for kidney disease 007269
• Dietary Strategies for the Treatment of Cadmium and Lead Toxicity - 041 Table 3 016843
• Dr Duke's list of aluminium chelating plants 017803
• Dr Duke's list of antiparasitic plants 010310
• Dr Duke's list of Chemicals and their Biological Activities in: Prunus persica (L.) BATSCH (Rosaceae) -- Peach 019287
• Dr Duke's list of cystine containing plants to boost the immune system 012486
• Dr Duke's list of mercury chelating plants 017825
• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing ARGININE 017958
• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing GLYCINE 017955
• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing HISTIDINE 019061
• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing LUTEIN 018922
• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing LYSINE 017957
• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing NICKEL 021500
• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing PHENYLALANINE 017936
• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing PROLINE 017956
• Dr Duke's list of Plants Containing QUERCETIN 021446
• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing SELENIUM 020550
• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing SULFUR 021408
• Dr Duke's list of plants having chemicals with vasodilatory activity 017836
• Dr Duke's list of Plants with Anticancer (bladder) activity 018452
• Dr Duke's list of Plants with Anticancer (breast) activity 018453
• Dr Duke's list of Plants with AntiEBV activity 018295
• Dr Duke's list of Plants with Antipolyneuritic activity 022051
• Dr Duke's list of Plants with Metal chelating ability from FERULIC ACID - PART 2 018254
• Dr Duke's top 40 plants containing Boron 017974
• Dr Dukes list of plants with high Antiestrogenic activity 017912
• Fruit seeds, cyanide EBV and cancer 007271
• Glaucoma, fruit and vegetables 007245
• Malic acid as a chelating agent 006176
• Mediterranean style diet and erectile dysfunction 005744
• Nicotine, coffee, cannabis and dopamine 005772
• Omega-3 and omega-6 content of medicinal foods for depressed patients: implications from the Iranian Traditional Medicine 017018
• Peaches and Alanine 012335
• Plants used to treat skin diseases 027515
• Prunus fruit seeds and cervical cancer 007270

Other observations

• Oral allergy syndrome 027497