**3. Origin and spread of apricot to the world**

According to the famous Russian Botanist Vavilov (1951), there are three important regions as origin of apricots although Armenia had been supposed apricot's origin and named as *Prunus armeniaca*, previously. These are;


Also Vavilov (1951) reported that the Near-Eastern center could be secondary gene center because of cultured varieties and absence of wild apricot forms (Bailey & Hough, 1975; Asma, 2011).

The spread of apricots from Central Asia to the rest of world are explained by three different views. The first of these, dried apricot fruits and stones of natural apricot flora in Fergana Valley which is at the border of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan and piedmont of Hind Kush and Tian Shan mountains were brought to Anatolia by soldiers on Iran and Transcaucasus during organized Asia campaigns by the Great Alexander in BC 334. Later on, apricot was moved to Europe from Anatolia during the Roman-Persian wars in BC 1 (Layne et al. 1996). The second view; apricot was brought to Anatolia by merchants from China and Center Asia on famous Silk Road, and then Roman soldiers carried apricot to

The oldest and richest in diversity is the Central Asian group which includes local apricots from Central Asia, Xinjiang, Afghanistan, Balucistan, Pakistan, and Northern India (Kashmir). This group is mostly self-incompatible and characterized with medium sized fruits and they have a tendency to bloom late spring. The secondary gene center of apricot is the Irano – Caucasian group which extends from Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, to North Africa, and even to Spain and Italy. They are generally self-incompatible, but on contrary, they produce large fruits and blooms earlier than apricots of Central Asia and needs lower chilling hours. Apricots of North American, South African, and Australian are classified as the European group and this group was originated from the apricots of Armenia, Iran, Turkey, and other Arab countries. Apricots of this group are self-compatible, fruits are more precocious and the trees need low chilling. The Dzhungar-Zailig group with mostly small fruits includes selections from regions of Dzharskent, Taldy-Kurgan, Kazakhstan, and Xinjiang (Mehlenbacher et al. 1990; Layne et al. 1996; Faust et al. 1998). Later, two major groups proposed by Bailey & Hough (1975), the Northern China group that includes forms of *Prunus mandshurica* and *Prunus sibirica*, and the Eastern China group that includes forms of *Prunus ansu* (Romero et al. 2003). In addition, some researchers mentioned two more groups named Tibet and Northeast China. While Tibet eco-geographic group includes forms of *Prunus armeniaca* var. *holosericea*, Northeast China eco-geographic group includes varieties and types of *Prunus armeniaca*, *Prunus sibirica*

The Central Asian and Irano-Caucausian including Turkish and Iran cultivars ecogeographical groups show the richest phenotypic variability, while European group including cultivars grown in North America, Australia and South Africa is to exibit the least

According to the famous Russian Botanist Vavilov (1951), there are three important regions as origin of apricots although Armenia had been supposed apricot's origin and named as

Also Vavilov (1951) reported that the Near-Eastern center could be secondary gene center because of cultured varieties and absence of wild apricot forms (Bailey & Hough, 1975;

The spread of apricots from Central Asia to the rest of world are explained by three different views. The first of these, dried apricot fruits and stones of natural apricot flora in Fergana Valley which is at the border of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan and piedmont of Hind Kush and Tian Shan mountains were brought to Anatolia by soldiers on Iran and Transcaucasus during organized Asia campaigns by the Great Alexander in BC 334. Later on, apricot was moved to Europe from Anatolia during the Roman-Persian wars in BC 1 (Layne et al. 1996). The second view; apricot was brought to Anatolia by merchants from China and Center Asia on famous Silk Road, and then Roman soldiers carried apricot to

and *Prunus mandshurica* (Bailey & Hough, 1975).

diversity (Mehlenbacher et al. 1991; Halasz et al. 2010).

b. The Central Asian center (from Tien-Shan to Kashmir) c. The Near-Eastern center (Iran, Caucasus, Turkey)

**3. Origin and spread of apricot to the world** 

*Prunus armeniaca*, previously. These are; a. The Chinese center (China and Tibet)

Asma, 2011).

Italy from Anatolia (Bailey & Hough, 1975). The third view is that Romans removed apricot to west during their expeditions to seize the Near East (Syria, Iran, and Caucasus) in BC 2 (Layne et al. 1996). Apricot gradually spreaded to Africa on Meditarranean countries and Middle East, it was also carried to Balkans by Ottomans in XV. and XVI. century (Suranyi, 1999). Apricot was taken to Southern Europe from Eastern Europe countries (Asma, 2011), to England in 1524 or 1548 from Italy. It was removed to America continent by the Spanish in 1626 (Faust et al. 1998).
