FRUIT RIPENING OF CONTRASTED APRICOT VARIETIES: PHYSICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL CHANGES

Fruits of 3 apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) varieties : ‘Bergeron’, ‘Goldrich’ and ‘Moniqui’ were harvested at 3 to 7 days intervals during fruit growth and ripening.
Fruit were analysed for weight, colour, firmness, ethylene production, sugars and organic acids contents.
The beginning of several key stages, i.e. stone lignification (L), sucrose accumulation (S), ethylene production (E) and physiological maturity (P) were identified to facilitate comparisons between varieties.
Qualitative changes during growth and ripening were similar all cultivars.
The increase of fresh weight described the double sigmoïdal curve, characteristic of stone fruits.
Changes in pigments composition was associated with a decrease of the Hue Angle of the ground skin colour to an almost constant value.
SSC and sucrose increased strongly during the second period of fruit growth i.e. after the end of stone hardening.
At the opposite, after an regular accumulation, organic anions decreased from 110-120 days after bloom.
A significant ethylene production was only detected during ripening, as in other climacteric fruits its rate increased exponentially until the onset of senescence.
Major quantitative differences in ethylene production, carotenoids content and malate/citrate ration were observed between varieties.

XII International Symposium on Apricot Culture and Decline

S. Bureau, H. Chahine, B. Gouble, M. Reich, G. Albagnac, J.M. Audergon

Prunus armeniaca, firmness, colour, sugars, organic acids

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2006.701.88