View source for Biology:Pear

{{Short description|Species of fruit}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Pear
| image = Pears.jpg
| image_caption = [[Biology:Pyrus communis|European pear]] branch with two pears
| image2 = Pear DS.jpg
| image2_caption = Pear fruit cross section
| display_parents = 3
| taxon = Pyrus
| authority = [[Biography:Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = About 30 species; see text
}}

'''Pears''' are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a [[Biology:Species|species]] of [[Biology:Genus|genus]] '''''Pyrus''''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|aɪ|r|ə|s}}, in the family [[Biology:Rosaceae|Rosaceae]], bearing the [[Biology:Pome|pomaceous]] fruit of the same name. Several species of pears are valued for their edible fruit and juices, while others are cultivated as trees.

The tree is medium-sized and native to coastal and mildly temperate regions of Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Pear wood is one of the preferred materials in the manufacture of high-quality [[Engineering:Woodwind instrument|woodwind]] instruments and [[Engineering:Furniture|furniture]].

About 3,000 known varieties of pears are grown worldwide, which vary in both shape and taste. The fruit is consumed fresh, [[Engineering:Canning|canned]], as juice, dried, or fermented as perry.

== Etymology ==
The word ''pear'' is probably from Germanic ''pera'' as a [[Social:Loanword|loanword]] of Vulgar Latin ''pira'', the plural of ''pirum'', akin to Greek ''apios'' (from Mycenaean ''ápisos''),<ref>{{OEtymD|pear}}</ref> of Semitic origin (''pirâ''), meaning "fruit". The adjective ''pyriform'' or ''piriform'' means pear-shaped.<ref>{{cite web |title=pyriform, adj. |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/155457 |website=Oxford English Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=28 April 2021}}</ref> The classical Latin word for a pear tree is ''pirus'';<ref>{{cite dictionary |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dpirus |dictionary=A Latin Dictionary |first1=Charlton T. |last1=Lewis |first2=Charles |last2=Short |title=pĭrus |date=1879 |publisher=Clarendon Press |via=the [[Perseus Project]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515000656/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dpirus |archive-date=2022-05-15 }}</ref> ''pyrus'' is an alternate form of this word sometimes used in [[Social:Medieval Latin|medieval Latin]].<ref>{{cite dictionary |dictionary=Glossarium Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis |author=Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange |title=PYRUS |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515000627/https://logeion.uchicago.edu/pyrus |archive-date=2022-05-15 |url=https://logeion.uchicago.edu/pyrus |via=[[Logeion]]}}</ref>

== Description ==
[[File:Pear's morphology.svg|thumb|Pear's morphology]]
[[File:PearBlossomsCalifornia.jpg|thumb|Pear blossoms|left]]

The pear is [[Earth:Native plant|native]] to coastal and mildly temperate regions of the [[Earth:Old World|Old World]], from Western Europe and North Africa east  across Asia. It is a medium-sized tree, reaching {{convert|10|–|17|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall, often with a tall, narrow crown; a few species are [[Biology:Shrub|shrub]]by.

The [[Biology:Leaf|leaves]] are alternately arranged, simple, {{convert|2|–|12|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} long, glossy green on some species, densely silvery-hairy in some others; leaf shape varies from broad oval to narrow lanceolate. Most pears are [[Biology:Deciduous|deciduous]], but one or two species in Southeast Asia are [[Biology:Evergreen|evergreen]]. Most are cold-hardy, withstanding temperatures as low as {{convert|−25|to|-40|C|F}} in winter, except for the evergreen species, which only tolerate temperatures down to about {{convert|−15|C|F}}.

The [[Biology:Flower|flower]]s are white, rarely tinted yellow or pink, {{convert|2|–|4|cm|in|frac=2}} diameter, and have five petals.<ref name="pearfruit">[https://web.archive.org/web/20100916180243/http://bouquetoffruits.com/fruit-facts/pear-facts.html Pear Fruit Facts Page Information]. bouquetoffruits.com</ref> Like that of the related [[Biology:Apple|apple]], the pear fruit is a [[Biology:Pome|pome]], in most wild species {{convert|1|–|4|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} diameter, but in some cultivated forms up to {{convert|18|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|9|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} broad; the shape varies in most species from oblate or globose, to the classic pyriform "[[Social:Female body shape|pear shape]]" of the European pear with an elongated basal portion and a bulbous end.

The fruit is composed of the receptacle or upper end of the flower stalk (the so-called calyx tube) greatly dilated. Enclosed within its cellular flesh is the true fruit: five '[[Biology:Cartilage#Plants and fungi|cartilaginous]]' carpels, known colloquially as the "core". From the upper rim of the receptacle are given off the five [[Biology:Sepal|sepal]]s,{{Vague|now you are talking about the §flower§ again|date=July 2009}} the five [[Biology:Petal|petal]]s, and the very numerous [[Biology:Stamen|stamen]]s.

Pears and apples cannot always be distinguished by the form of the fruit;<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/newwernertwenti01unkngoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/newwernertwenti01unkngoog/page/n475 456]|title=The New Werner Twentieth Century Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Standard Work of Reference in Art, Literature, Science, History, Geography, Commerce, Biography, Discovery and Invention|date=1907|publisher=Werner Company|language=en}}</ref> some pears look very much like some apples, e.g. the [[Biology:Pyrus pyrifolia|nashi pear]]. One major difference is that the flesh of pear fruit contains stone cells.

== History ==
[[File:Bradford 9288.JPG|thumb|''Pyrus calleryana'' in flower]]
[[Earth:Pomology|Pear cultivation]] in cool, [[Earth:Temperate climate|temperate climate]]s extends to the remotest antiquity, and evidence exists of its use as a food since prehistoric times. Many traces have been found in prehistoric pile dwellings around Lake Zurich. Pears were cultivated in China as early as 2000 BC.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Prance |editor1-first=Ghillean |editor2-last=Nesbitt |editor2-first=Mark |last1=Clement |first1=Charles R. |date=2005 |title=The Cultural History of Plants |publisher=Routledge |page=86 |isbn=0415927463}}</ref> An article on Pear tree cultivation in {{wipe|Spain}} is brought down in Ibn al-'Awwam's 12th-century agricultural work, ''Book on Agriculture''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ibn al-'Awwam|first=Yaḥyá|title=Le livre de l'agriculture d'Ibn-al-Awam (kitab-al-felahah) |year=1864|location=Paris|publisher=A. Franck|translator=J.-J. Clement-Mullet |pages=240–242 (ch. 7 - Article 12)|url=https://archive.org/details/lelivredelagric00algoog/page/n14/mode/2up |language=fr|oclc=780050566}} (pp. [https://archive.org/details/lelivredelagric00algoog/page/n348/mode/2up 240]–242 (Article XII)</ref>

The word ''pear'', or its equivalent, occurs in all the Celtic languages, while in Slavic and other dialects, differing appellations, still referring to the same thing, are found—a diversity and multiplicity of [[Social:Nomenclature|nomenclature]], which led Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle to infer a very ancient cultivation of the tree from the shores of the Caspian to those of the Atlantic.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

The pear was also cultivated by the Romans, who ate the fruits raw or cooked, just like apples.<ref name="Toussaint-Samat2009">{{cite book|author=Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne |title=A History of Food|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QmevzbQ0AsIC&pg=PA573|year= 2009|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-0514-2|page=573}}</ref> Pliny's ''Natural History'' recommended stewing them with [[Chemistry:Honey|honey]] and noted three dozen varieties. The Roman cookbook ''De re coquinaria'' has a recipe for a spiced, stewed-pear ''patina'', or soufflé.<ref>{{cite book|title=Apicius (with an introd. and an Engl. transl.)|year=2006|publisher=Prospect Books|location=Blackawton, Totnes|isbn=978-1-903018-13-2|page=IV.2.35 |author1=Grainger, Sally  |author2=Grocock, Christopher |name-list-style=amp }}</ref> Romans also introduced the fruit to Britain.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lyle|first=Katie Letcher|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/560560606|title=The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants, Mushrooms, Fruits, and Nuts: How to Find, Identify, and Cook Them|publisher=FalconGuides|year=2010|isbn=978-1-59921-887-8|edition=2nd|location=Guilford, CN|pages=105|oclc=560560606|orig-year=2004}}</ref>

A certain race of pears, with white down on the [[Biology:Epidermis (botany)|undersurface]] of their leaves, is supposed to have originated from ''P. nivalis'', and their fruit is chiefly used in France in the manufacture of perry (see also cider). Other small-fruited pears, distinguished by their early ripening and apple-like fruit, may be referred to as ''P. cordata'', a species found wild in western France and southwestern England.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

The [[Biology:Genus|genus]] is thought to have originated in present-day Western China<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Silva|first1=G. J.|last2=Souza|first2=Tatiane Medeiros|last3=Barbieri|first3=Rosa Lía|last4=Costa de Oliveira|first4=Antonio|date=2014|title=Origin, Domestication, and Dispersing of Pear ( Pyrus spp.)|journal=Advances in Agriculture|language=en|volume=2014|pages=1–8|doi=10.1155/2014/541097|issn=2356-654X|url=http://ainfo.cnptia.embrapa.br/digital/bitstream/item/103454/1/Rosa-Lia.pdf|doi-access=free}}</ref> in the foothills of the Tian Shan, a mountain range of Central Asia, and to have spread to the north and south along mountain chains, evolving into a diverse group of over 20 widely recognized primary species.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}  The enormous number of varieties of the cultivated European pear (''[[Biology:Pyrus communis|Pyrus communis]]'' subsp. ''communis''), are without doubt derived from one or two wild [[Biology:Subspecies|subspecies]] (''P. c.'' subsp. ''pyraster'' and ''P. c.'' subsp. ''caucasica''), widely distributed throughout Europe, and sometimes forming part of the natural vegetation of the forests. Court accounts of Henry III of England record pears shipped from La Rochelle-Normande and presented to the king by the sheriffs of the City of London. The French names of pears grown in English medieval gardens suggest that their reputation, at the least, was French; a favoured variety in the accounts was named for Saint Rieul of Senlis, Bishop of Senlis in northern France.<ref name=Cecil>{{cite book|author=Cecil, Evelyn |title=A History of Gardening in England|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fk4KTrvZ8nMC|year= 2006|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn=978-1-4286-3680-4|pages=35 ff}}</ref>

Asian species with medium to large edible fruit include ''P. pyrifolia'', ''P. ussuriensis'', ''P. × bretschneideri'', ''P. × sinkiangensis'', and ''P. pashia''.  Other small-fruited species are frequently used as [[Biology:Rootstock|rootstock]]s for the cultivated forms.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

== Major recognized species ==
[[File:Assortment of pears.jpg|thumb|(Left to right, top to bottom) Korean pear, Bosc pear, Forelle pear, red D'Anjou pear, Bartlett pear, green D'Anjou pear, Seckel pear, Comice pear]]
[[File:Pyrus pyrifolia.jpg|thumb|Many varieties, such as the Nashi pear, are not "pear-shaped".]]

{|
|- valign=top
|
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus amygdaliformis|Pyrus amygdaliformis]]''—Almond-leaved pear
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus anatolica|Pyrus anatolica]]''
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus armeniacifolia|Pyrus armeniacifolia]]''—Apricot-leaved pear
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus betulifolia|Pyrus betulifolia]]''—Birchleaf pear
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus boissieriana|Pyrus boissieriana]]''
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus bourgaeana|Pyrus bourgaeana]]''—Iberian pear
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus × bretschneideri|Pyrus × bretschneideri]]''—Chinese white pear; also classified as a subspecies of ''Pyrus pyrifolia''
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus calleryana|Pyrus calleryana]]''—Callery pear
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus communis|Pyrus communis]]'' – European pear
** ''[[Biology:Pyrus communis|Pyrus communis]]'' subsp. ''communis''—European pear (cultivars include Beurre d'Anjou, Bartlett and Beurre Bosc)
** ''Pyrus communis'' subsp. ''caucasica'' (syn. ''P. caucasica'')
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus cordata|Pyrus cordata]]''—Plymouth pear
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus elaeagrifolia|Pyrus elaeagrifolia]]''—Oleaster-leaved pear
* ''Pyrus gergerana''—Gergeranian pear
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus glabra|Pyrus glabra]]''
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus hakkiarica|Pyrus hakkiarica]]''
* ''Pyrus hondoensis''
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus hopeiensis|Pyrus hopeiensis]]''
* ''Pyrus koehnei''—Evergreen pear of southern China and Taiwan
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus korshinskyi|Pyrus korshinskyi]]''
* ''Pyrus neoserrulata''
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus nivalis|Pyrus nivalis]]''—Snow pear
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus oxyprion|Pyrus oxyprion]]''
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus pashia|Pyrus pashia]]''—Afghan pear
* ''Pyrus × phaeocarpa''
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus pseudopashia|Pyrus pseudopashia]]''
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus pyraster|Pyrus pyraster]]''—Wild European pear (syn. (''Pyrus communis'' subsp. ''pyraster'')
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus pyrifolia|Pyrus pyrifolia]]''—Nashi pear, ''Sha Li''; tree species native to China, Japan, and Korea, also known as the Asian pear
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus regelii|Pyrus regelii]]''
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus salicifolia|Pyrus salicifolia]]''—Willow-leaved pear
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus × sinkiangensis|Pyrus × sinkiangensis]]''—thought to be an interspecific hybrid between ''P. ''×''bretschneideri'' and ''Pyrus communis''
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus spinosa|Pyrus spinosa]]''
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus syriaca|Pyrus syriaca]]''—Syrian pear
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus ussuriensis|Pyrus ussuriensis]]''—Siberian pear (also known as the Ussurian pear, Harbin pear, or Manchurian pear)
* ''[[Biology:Pyrus xerophila|Pyrus xerophila]]''
|}

== Cultivation ==
[[File:Pear tree in Hamedan Iran.jpg|thumb|Pear tree]]
According to Pear Bureau Northwest, about 3000 known varieties of pears are grown worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://usapears.com/Recipes%20And%20Lifestyle/Now%20Serving/Pears%20and%20Varieties.aspx |title=Pear Varieties |publisher=Usapears.com |access-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625092733/http://usapears.com/Recipes%20And%20Lifestyle/Now%20Serving/Pears%20and%20Varieties.aspx |archive-date=25 June 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The pear is normally propagated by [[Earth:Grafting|grafting]] a selected variety onto a [[Biology:Rootstock|rootstock]], which may be of a pear or [[Biology:Quince|quince]] variety.  Quince rootstocks produce smaller trees, which is often desirable in commercial orchards or domestic gardens. For new varieties the flowers can be cross-bred to preserve or combine desirable traits.  The fruit of the pear is produced on spurs, which appear on shoots more than one year old.<ref>RHS Fruit, Harry Baker, {{ISBN|1-85732-905-8}}, pp100-101.</ref>

Three species account for the vast majority of edible fruit production, the European pear ''Pyrus communis'' subsp. ''communis'' cultivated mainly in Europe and North America, the Chinese white pear (''bai li'') ''[[Biology:Pyrus × bretschneideri|Pyrus × bretschneideri]]'', and the Nashi pear ''Pyrus pyrifolia'' (also known as Asian pear or apple pear), both grown mainly in eastern Asia. There are thousands of [[Biology:Cultivar|cultivar]]s of these three species.  A species grown in western China, ''P. sinkiangensis'', and ''P. pashia'', grown in southern China and south Asia, are also produced to a lesser degree.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Other species are used as [[Biology:Rootstock|rootstock]]s for European and Asian pears and as ornamental trees. Pear wood is close-grained and at least in the past was used as a specialized timber for fine furniture and making the blocks for woodcuts.  The Manchurian or Ussurian Pear, ''[[Biology:Pyrus ussuriensis|Pyrus ussuriensis]]'' (which produces unpalatable fruit) has been crossed with ''Pyrus communis'' to breed hardier pear cultivars. The Bradford pear (''[[Biology:Pyrus calleryana|Pyrus calleryana]]'' 'Bradford') in particular has become widespread in North America, and is used only as an ornamental tree, as well as a blight-resistant rootstock for ''Pyrus communis'' fruit orchards. The Willow-leaved pear (''[[Biology:Pyrus salicifolia|Pyrus salicifolia]]'') is grown for its attractive, slender, densely silvery-hairy leaves.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

===Cultivars===
{{Main article|Biology:List of pear cultivars}}
The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-fruit-and-vegetables.pdf | title = AGM Plants}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* 'Beth'<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/46952/Pyrus-communis-Beth(D)/Details|title=RHS Plant Selector Pyrus communis 'Beth' (D) AGM / RHS Gardening |publisher=Apps.rhs.org.uk | access-date = 17 February 2021}}</ref>
* 'Beurré Hardy'<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/51198/i-Pyrus-communis-i-Beurre-Hardy-(D)/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Pyrus communis'' 'Beurré Hardy' | access-date = 23 September 2018}}</ref>
* 'Beurré Superfin'<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/75640/i-Pyrus-communis-i-Beurre-Superfin-(D)/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Pyrus communis'' 'Beurré Superfin' | access-date = 23 September 2018}}</ref>
* 'Concorde'<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/61972/Pyrus-communis-Concorde-(D)/Details |title=RHS Plant Selector Pyrus communis 'Concorde' PBR (D) AGM / RHS Gardening |publisher=Apps.rhs.org.uk | access-date = 17 February 2021}}</ref>
* 'Conference'<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/74814/Pyrus-communis-Conference-(D)/Details |title=RHS Plant Selector Pyrus communis 'Conference' (D) AGM / RHS Gardening |publisher=Apps.rhs.org.uk | access-date = 17 February 2021}}</ref>
* 'Doyenné du Comice'<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/76945/Pyrus-communis-Doyenne-du-Comice-(D)/Details | title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Pyrus communis'' 'Doyenné du Comice' | access-date = 23 September 2018}}</ref>
* 'Joséphine de Malines'<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/71466/Pyrus-communis-Josephine-de-Malines-(D)/Details |title=RHS Plant Selector Pyrus communis 'Joséphine de Malines' (D) AGM / RHS Gardening |publisher=Apps.rhs.org.uk | access-date = 17 February 2021}}</ref>
{{div col end}}

The purely decorative cultivar ''P. salicifolia'' 'Pendula', with pendulous branches and silvery leaves, has also won the award.<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/91185/i-Pyrus-salicifolia-i-Pendula/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Pyrus salicifolia'' 'Pendula' | access-date = 23 September 2018}}</ref>

=== Harvest ===
Summer and autumn [[Biology:Cultivar|cultivar]]s of ''Pyrus communis'', being climacteric fruits, are gathered before they are fully ripe, while they are still green, but snap off when lifted.  In the case of the 'Passe Crassane', long the favored winter pear in France,  the crop is traditionally gathered at three different times: the first a fortnight or more before it is ripe, the second a week or ten days after that, and the third when fully ripe. The first gathering will come into eating last, and thus the season of the fruit may be considerably prolonged.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

=== Diseases and pests ===

== Production ==
{| class="wikitable floatright"
|+Pear production – 2020
|-
! style="background:#ddf;" | Country
! style="background:#ddf;;" |<small>(Millions of<br /> [[Tonne|tonne]]s)</small>
|-
|{{CHN}}||{{right|16.0}}
|-
|{{ITA}}||{{right|0.6}}
|-
|{{USA}}||{{right|0.6}}
|-
|{{ARG}}||{{right|0.6}}
|-
|{{TUR}}||{{right|0.5}}
|- style="background:#ccc;"
|'''World'''||{{right|'''23.1'''}}
|-
| colspan="2" |<small>FAOSTAT</small><ref name="fao2018">{{cite web|url=http://faostat3.fao.org/browse/Q/QC/E|publisher= UN Food & Agriculture Organization, Statistics Division|title=Production of pears in 2018, Crops/Regions/World Regions/Production Quantity by picklists|date=2019|access-date=10 October 2020}}</ref>
|}

In 2020, world production of pears was 23.1 million [[Tonne|tonne]]s, led by {{wipe|China}} with 69% of the total (table). About 48% of the [[Earth:Southern Hemisphere|Southern Hemisphere]]'s pears are produced in the [[Place:Patagonia|Patagonia]]n valley of Río Negro in Argentina.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://registrocivil.rionegro.gov.ar/articulo/31322/las-peras-de-rio-negro-convierten-al-pais-en-el-segundo-exportador-a-nivel-mundial |title=Las peras de Río Negro convierten al país en el segundo exportador a nivel mundial |date=2020-01-31 |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=Registro Civil |language=Spanish}}</ref>

== Storage ==

Pears may be stored at room temperature until ripe.<ref name=cpma>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100225202814/http://www.cpma.ca/en_hea_storage.asp Canadian Produce Marketing Association > Home Storage Guide for Fresh Fruits & Vegetables]. cpma.ca</ref> Pears are ripe when the flesh around the stem gives to gentle pressure.<ref name=cpma /> Ripe pears are optimally stored refrigerated, uncovered in a single layer, where they have a shelf life of 2 to 3 days.<ref name=cpma />

Pears ripen at room temperature. Ripening is accelerated by the gas [[Biology:Ethylene as a plant hormone|ethylene]].  If pears are placed next to [[Biology:Banana|banana]]s in a fruit bowl, the ethylene emitted by the banana causes the pears to ripen.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/node/413 |title=Pears can be ripened to perfection |work=extension.oregonstate.edu |year=2011 |author1=Scott, Judy  |author2=Sugar, David   |name-list-style=amp |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref>  Refrigeration will slow further ripening.  According to Pear Bureau Northwest, most varieties show little color change as they ripen (though the skin on Bartlett pears changes from green to yellow as they ripen).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usapears.org/Recipes%20And%20Lifestyle/Culinary%20Corner/Produce-Guide.aspx |title=Pear Bureau Northwest |publisher=Usapears.org |access-date=14 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510223532/http://www.usapears.org/Recipes%20And%20Lifestyle/Culinary%20Corner/Produce-Guide.aspx |archive-date=10 May 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

== Uses ==

===Cooking===
[[File:Williams Christ Obstbrand.JPG|thumb|right|upright|''Poire Williams'', a fruit brandy produced from the Williams pear. The bottle is tied to the tree and the pear is grown inside it.]]

Pears are consumed fresh, canned, as juice, and dried. The juice can also be used in jellies and jams, usually in combination with other fruits, including berries. Fermented pear juice is called perry or pear cider and is made in a way that is similar to how cider is made from apples.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} Perry can be distilled to produce an ''eau de vie de poire'', a colorless, unsweetened fruit brandy.

Pear purée is used to manufacture snack foods such as Fruit by the Foot and Fruit Roll-Ups.

The culinary or cooking pear is green but dry and hard, and only edible after several hours of cooking. Two Dutch cultivars are "{{Interlanguage link multi|Gieser Wildeman|nl}}" (a sweet variety) and "{{Interlanguage link multi|Saint Remy (pear)|nl|3=Saint Rémy (peer)}}" (slightly sour).<ref name="Koene2005">{{cite book|author=Koene, A. |title=Food Shopper's Guide to Holland: A Comprehensive Review of the Finest Local and International Food Products in the Dutch Marketplace|url=https://archive.org/details/foodshoppersguid0000koen|url-access=registration |year= 2005|publisher=Eburon Uitgeverij B.V.|isbn=978-90-5972-092-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/foodshoppersguid0000koen/page/79 79]}}</ref>

===Timber===
Pear wood is one of the preferred materials in the manufacture of high-quality woodwind instruments and [[Engineering:Furniture|furniture]], and was used for making the carved blocks for woodcuts. It is also used for wood carving, and as a firewood to produce aromatic smoke for smoking meat or [[Biology:Tobacco|tobacco]]. Pear wood is valued for kitchen spoons, scoops and stirrers, as it does not contaminate food with color, flavor or smell, and resists warping and splintering despite repeated soaking and drying cycles. Lincoln<ref name="Lincoln, William 1986 pp. 33, 207">Lincoln, William (1986). ''World Woods in Color''. Fresno, California, USA: Linden Publishing Co. Inc. pp. 33, 207. {{ISBN|0-941936-20-1}}.</ref> describes it as "a fairly tough, very stable wood... (used for) carving... brushbacks, umbrella handles, measuring instruments such as set squares and T-squares... recorders... violin and guitar fingerboards and piano keys... decorative veneering." Pearwood is the favored wood for architect's rulers because it does not warp.  It is similar to the wood of its relative, the apple tree (''[[Biology:Malus domestica|Malus domestica]]'') and used for many of the same purposes.<ref name="Lincoln, William 1986 pp. 33, 207" />

== Nutrition ==
{{Nutritional value
| name=Pears, raw
| kJ=239
| water=84 g
| protein=0.36 g
| fat=0.14 g
| carbs=15.23 g
| fiber=3.1 g
| sugars=9.75 g
| calcium_mg=9
| iron_mg=0.18
| magnesium_mg=7
| phosphorus_mg=12
| potassium_mg=116
| sodium_mg=1
| zinc_mg=0.1
| manganese_mg=0.048
| vitC_mg=4.3
| thiamin_mg=0.012
| riboflavin_mg=0.026
| niacin_mg=0.161
| pantothenic_mg=0.049
| vitB6_mg=0.029
| folate_ug=7
| choline_mg=5.1
| vitE_mg=0.12
| vitK_ug=4.4
| source_usda = 1
| note=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160417083033/https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list?qlookup=09252&format=Full Link to USDA Database entry]
}}

Raw pear is 84% water, 15% carbohydrates and contains negligible [[Biology:Protein|protein]] and [[Chemistry:Fat|fat]] (table). In a {{convert|100|g|oz|abbr=on|adj=off|frac=2}} reference amount, raw pear supplies {{convert|239|kJ|kcal|abbr=off}} of food energy, a moderate amount of dietary fiber, and no other essential nutrients in significant amounts (table).

=== Comparison ===
{{Clear|left}}

===Research===
Preliminary research is investigating whether there is a correlation between apple/pear consumption and improved cardiovascular health.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Gayer, Bridget A; Avendano, Esther E; Edelson, Emily; Nirmala, Nanguneri; Johnson, Elizabeth J; Raman, Gowri|year=2019|title=Effects of Intake of Apples, Pears, or Their Products on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors and Clinical Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis|journal=Current Developments in Nutrition|url=https://academic.oup.com/cdn/article/3/10/nzz109/5580580|volume=3|issue=10|pages=nzz109|doi=10.1093/cdn/nzz109|pmid=31667463|pmc=6813372}}</ref>

== Cultural references ==
Pears grow in the sublime [[Biology:Orchard|orchard]] of Alcinous, in the ''[[Religion:Odyssey|Odyssey]]'' vii: "Therein grow trees, tall and luxuriant, pears and [[Biology:Pomegranate|pomegranate]]s and [[Biology:Apple|apple]]-trees with their bright fruit, and sweet [[Biology:Ficus|figs]], and luxuriant [[Biology:Olive|olive]]s. Of these the fruit perishes not nor fails in winter or in summer, but lasts throughout the year."

"A [[Biology:Partridge|Partridge]] in a Pear Tree" is the first gift in the cumulative song "The Twelve Days of Christmas".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford |title=The twelve days of Christmas |url=http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/edition/12086 |website=Broadside Ballads Online |access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>

The pear tree was an object of particular veneration (as was the [[Biology:Walnut|walnut]]) in the tree worship of the Nakh peoples of the [[Earth:North Caucasus|North Caucasus]] – see Vainakh mythology and see also Ingushetia – the best-known of the Vainakh peoples today being the Chechens of Chechnya. Pear and walnut trees were held to be the sacred abodes of beneficent spirits in pre-Islamic Chechen religion and, for this reason, it was forbidden to fell them.<ref>''The Chechens: A Handbook'' by Jaimoukha, Amjad. Published by Psychology Press, 2005. {{ISBN|978-0-415-32328-4}}.</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Pyrus communis gestoofde stoofpeer Gieser Wildeman.jpg|Pears simmered in red wine
File:Pear in a bottle.jpg|Pear in a bottle of pear ''eau de vie''
File:Pear Blossom in Eastern Siberia.jpg|Pear blossom in eastern Siberia
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Biology:List of culinary fruits|List of culinary fruits]]
* [[Biology:List of pear cultivars|List of pear cultivars]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |author=Joan Morgan |year=2015 |title=The Book of Pears: The Definitive History and Guide to Over 500 Varieties |publisher=Chelsea Green Publishing |isbn=978-1603586665}}

== External links ==

{{Taxonbar|from=Q434}}

[[Category:Pyrus| ]]
[[Category:Fruit trees]]

{{Sourceattribution|Pear}}