Grapes can be eaten fresh as table grapes or they can be used for making wine, jam, juice, jelly, grape seed extract, raisins, vinegar, and grape seed oil. Grapes are a non-climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The fruit has yellow or whitish flesh, a delicate aroma, and a skin that is either velvety (peaches) or smooth (nectarines) in different cultivars. The flesh is very delicate and easily bruised in some cultivars, but is fairly firm in some commercial varieties, especially when green.
Peaches, along with cherries, plums and apricots, are stone fruits (drupes). There are various heirloom varieties, including the Indian Peach, or Indian Blood Peach, which arrives in the latter part of the summer, and can have color ranging from red and white, to purple.
Fun Fact: Spaniards brought peaches to South America and the French introduced them to Louisiana.
The nectarine is a rounded fruit with a single central groove. Its smooth skin is blushed with hues of ruby, pink and gold throughout. The flesh is perfumed with aromatics, overtly juicy when ripe, and golden colored with red bleeds at the skin and surrounding the central rough pit.