Akademik

(PLOO.awt)

n.

A fruit created by cross-pollinating a plum and an apricot in such a way that the resulting hybrid has dominant plum characteristics.

Measure H, which bans the "propagation, cultivation, raising and growing of genetically modified organisms in Mendocino County" was approved by 56 percent of that county's voters. ...

Measure H doesn't outlaw traditional breeding methods or hybridization, which researchers have used to give consumers juicier nectarines, heartier tomatoes and exotic varieties, including pluots and cherry-plums.

— Richard T. Estrada, "Area growers wary after Mendocino measure passes ban on foods deemed genetically modified," Modesto Bee, March 6, 2004

Pluots are a plum-apricot cross that has more of the characteristic of a plum because it has more plum parentage than apricot: smooth, crisp skin, round shape. However, the skin isn't as bitter as that of a true plum.

— Wanda Adams, "Off the Shelf," The Honolulu Advertiser, September 10, 2003

''We develop new varieties of stone fruit,'' Floyd Zaiger says of Zaiger's Genetics, the business he runs in Modesto, Calif., with his daughter and two sons. ''Primarily we work with peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots.'' Lately the focus has been on the last two; Zaiger is cross-pollinating them, and what he has dubbed ''pluots'' are on the way.

''Originally, we crossed an apricot with a plum,'' explains Zaiger. (The light-skinned fruit, above left, known as plumcots, are samples of the first stage of crossbreeding.) ''Then we made selections of the seedlings and crossed them with plums. Our objective was to increase the flavor of the plum, to where it was superior in eating quality.''

— Bruce Weber, "The Pits," The New York Times, August 7, 1988

An initial cross between a plum and an apricot is called a plumcot (1984; also: plum-cot), and the resulting hybrid is 50% plum and 50% apricot. Cross the plumcot with yet another plum and the result is the pluot: 75% plum, 25% apricot. Mad fruit scientists also cross plumcots with apricots to create the aprium (1988), which is 75% apricot and 25% plum. All of these fruit blends are called interspecific hybrids (1983), a general term that refers to crosses between different but related types of fruit. Note that pluot® and aprium® are trademarks of Zaiger Genetics (filing date for both products: March 28, 1990).