The large area, which covers
Turkistan, Middle Asia, and Western China, is considered to be the
motherland of apricot. About 5000 years ago, apricot was known in
this area. Apricot was first brought to Anatolia in the fourth century
BC during the military expeditions of the Great Iskender.. Apricot
was taken to Italia and then to Greece during the Roman and Persian
wars in the first century BC, by the tradesmen. It took long years
for apricot to spread to the other European countries from Italy
and Greece, and it was taken to Spain and England in the 13th century,
and to France and USA in the 17th century.
Today apricot is spread
almost all over the world, but the main places are Mediterranean
Countries, Europe, Middle Asia, America, and Africa.
When we look at the world
production and export of dried apricot, it can be seen that Turkey
is the leader without any serious competitors.
Turkey realizes 82% of
the total dried apricot trade of the world.
Apricot cultivation, which is
spread in most of the agricultural regions of Turkey, finds its
best environment in the province of Malatya. Due to the composition
arising from the ecology of the province, Malatya origin apricots
gained economic value in the form of dried apricots for years This
province, which is located in the Central Eastern Anatolian Region,
produces nearly half of the crop. Malatya, produces almost the export
oriented dried apricot in Turkey.
On the other hand, the province
of Izmir has been recorded as the main export area for Turkish dried
fruits like apricots, sultana raisins, figs, thanks to the established
big processing and exporting companies by years.
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