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Apricot
Botanical Name : Prunus Armeniaca (LINN.)
Family: N.O. Rosaceae
Medicinal Action and Uses
Synonyms: Apricock. Armeniaca vulgaris.
Parts Used: Kernels, oil.
Habitat: Although formerly supposed to come from Armenia,
where it was long cultivated, hence the name Armeniaca, there is
now little doubt that its original habitat is northern China,
the Himalaya region and other parts of temperate Asia. It is
cultivated generally throughout temperate regions. Introduced
into England, from Italy, in Henry VIII's reign.
Description: A hardy tree, bearing stone fruit, closely
related to the peach. The leaves are broad and roundish, with
pointed apex; smooth; margin, finely serrated; petiole 1/2 inch
to an inch long, generally tinged with red. The flowers are
sessile, white, tinged with the same dusky red that appears on
the petiole, with five regular sepals and petals and many
stamens, and open very early in the spring. The fruit, which
ripens end of July to mid-August, according to variety, is a
drupe, like the plum, with a thin outer, downy skin enclosing
the yellow flesh (mesocarp), the inner layers becoming woody and
forming the large, smooth, compressed stone, the ovule ripening
into the kernel, or seed.
Constituents: Apricot kernels yield by expression 40 to
50 per cent. of a fixed oil, similar to that which occurs in the
sweet almond and in the peach kernel, consisting chiefly of
Olein, with a small proportion of the Glyceride of Linolic acid,
and commonly sold as Peach Kernel oil (Ol. Amygdae Pers.). From
the cake is distilled, by digestion with alcohol, an essential
oil (0l. Amygdae Essent. Pers.) which contains a colourless,
crystalline glucoside, Amygdalin, and is chemically identical
with that of the bitter almond. The essential oil is used in
confectionery and as a culinary flavouring.
Medicinal Action and Uses: Apricot oil is used as a
substitute for Oil of Almonds, which it very closely resembles.
It is far less expensive and finds considerable employment in
cosmetics, for its softening action on the skin. It is often
fraudulently added to genuine Almond oil and used in the
manufacture of soaps, cold creams and other preparations of the
perfumery trade.
Long lasting, alcohol free perfumes
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