Nectarine is a type of peach fruit.  It is a hairless peach and is sweeter than peaches and has a higher sugar or brix than peaches. Nectarines, like peaches, probably originated in China over 2,000 years ago and were cultivated in ancient Persia, Greece and Rome. They were grown in Great Britain in the late 16th or early 17th centuries, and were introduced to America by the Spanish.