Cherries: The Delectable Drupe

Get ‘em while you can. Cherries have a short season—just 3-4 weeks in May and June—and only grow in certain climates with cold temps, not tropical. Washington state and Michigan produce most of the United States crop, and that is labor intensive for this somewhat delicate fruit tree. But the sweet, or dark, cherry is a healthy, tasty snack on its own, and the tart cherry is the better cooking cherry. Here are a few more facts about this fleeting drupe (stone fruit, from Latin drupe [olive] originating from [wrinkled olive] Greek druppa.)

• Cherry pits were found in caves dating to the Stone Age in Europe. Greek scholar Theophrastus mentioned them in his “History of Plants” around 300 BC, saying that Greeks had been cultivating cherries for centuries. The cherry arrived on North American soil with the colonists in the 17th century.
• There are 1,000 different types of cherry trees in the US now, but only 10 are grown for commercial production. In fact, none of the 3,700 trees on the Mall in Washington, DC yield edible fruit, and many of them are cultivated to be sterile and produce only the flowers.
• Each tree can harvest up to 7,000 cherries annually, according to the Cherry Marketing Institute, which is enough for 30 pies. There are approximately 44 cherries per pound, and one cup—10 to 12 cherries--contains around 90 calories. However, one piece of Mrs. Smith's Cherry Pie (1/8 pie) racks up 330 calories. 
• As early as the 15th century cherries were used for medicinal purposes. Today’s research and studies confirm their anti-inflammatory properties for arthritis, post-workout muscle soreness, and gout. Other studies indicate benefits in reducing the risk of stroke, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes. If insomnia is your problem, try drinking a half to one cup of 100 percent cherry juice an hour before going to bed. The melatonin will help regulate body rhythms.
• In the US maraschino cherries are not quite the real thing. The Marasca is a sour Morello cherry and grows in Eastern Europe and Italy. This bitter, dry variety was used to make liqueur, and the Marasca cherries were bottled with it, a treat for the wealthy. The popular maraschino used on ice cream and in sweet drinks is really a sweet cherry called Royal Ann that, per FDA description is “dyed red, impregnated with sugar and packed in a sugar sirup flavored with oil of bitter almonds or a similar flavor.”