Die Bodenkultur - Journal for Land Management, Food and Environment

E. Mratinić, B. Popovski, T. Milošević and M. Popovska:

Chemical and physical properties of early, mid-time and late ripening apricot cultivars

Summary

This article presents chemical (moisture, soluble solids and total sugars contents, titratable acidity, pH juice, soluble solids/titratable acidity ratio and total sugars/titratable acidity ratio) and physical (fruit dimensions, arithmetic and geometric mean diameter, fruit and stone mass, flesh/stone ratio, sphericity, aspect ratio and surface area) properties of early (Senetate), mid-time (Hungarian Best) and late ripening (Kecskemét Rosè) apricot cultivars. The application of properties evaluated is also discussed. The differences in moisture content, soluble solids, total sugars, juice pH, soluble solids/titratable acidity ratio and total sugars/titratable acidity ratio of three apricot cultivars were found to be statistically significant, whereas differences in titratable acidity were not observed. The cultivars of apricots affected significantly the physical properties evaluated. On the basis of the chemical and physical properties, it could be said that fruits of Senetate are primarily recommended for fresh consumption, whereas Hungarian Best and Kecskemét Rosè can be recommended for processing, drying and fresh consumption. Key words: Prunus armeniaca L., quality attributes, soluble solids content, sugars.