What Exactly Is The Difference Between Plumcots, Pluots, And Apriums?

Plumcots, Pluots, and Apriums are all hybrid fruits, meaning that one variety of produce has been crossbred with a second variety to produce an entirely new third variety. Many fruits and vegetables are actually man-made, and while modern farmers can graft part of one fruit tree onto a different type of tree to produce a hybrid fruit, nature has also been producing hybrid plants via mutation and cross-pollination for centuries, so it's not the same as genetic engineering in a laboratory. When farmers choose to crossbreed a fruit, the result–if successful–usually yields the best traits of both fruits together. Floyd Zaiger fine-tuned cross-breeding hybrid stone fruit like plumcots and created Pluots and Apriums in the late 1980s. The names sound similar because they are, with the main difference between the three fruits being the ratios of plum and apricot in each variety of fruit.

A plumcot is about an even split of 50% plum and 50% apricot, so their traits can vary widely. Plumcots were the first hybrid fruit to combine apricots and plums, while Pluots and Apriums followed later. The sweetness from the apricot blends with the more sour notes of a plum, making them a delicious combination of the two fruits. Varieties include the Supernova with a deep red flesh; Golden Treat with a yellow flesh and pale green skin; and Flavor Gator, with a mottled greenish exterior and a bright red flesh that lightens from the darker edges to the lighter pit. 

Pluots are the hybrid fruit plum fans will love, made up of about 75% plum and 25% apricot. Pluots, a trademarked name, have qualities more similar to a plum, with the same smooth skin, and the apricot influence lending a bit more sweetness to the flesh. The smoother skin will have a darker tint than the flesh, but usually isn't quite the deep purple seen on most standard plums, although there is usually a contrast between the darker outer skin and lighter inner flesh. There are many varieties of pluots, like Flavor King, Candy Stripe, and Dapple Dandy, which will have different colors and even some spotted appearances. However, most aim for striking a balance between tart and sweet, generally with tart outer skin similar to a plum.

Apriums are 75% apricot and 25% plum, so they will most closely resemble and taste like an apricot. Apriums have slightly fuzzy skin that's more tender than a plum's taught skin, and the skin is generally similar to the warm golden shade of the inner flesh, sometimes with patches of light red. The pit of an Aprium is a dark brown, compared to the lighter pits of pluots and plumcots. Similar to an apricot, the flesh doesn't tightly connect to the pit as most other stone fruits do. Their flavor is akin to an apricot, too, with a honeyed sweetness and slight notes of tartness from the one-quarter plum traits.