INDICATORS OF MATURITY IN APRICOTS USING BIPLOT MULTIVARIATE-ANALYSIS

Apricot fruit (Prunus armeniaca L cv ‘Moorpark’) of variable ground colour were harvested from three sites. From two additional sites fruit of one colour only were harvested. Measurements were made of skin ground colour, internal levels of ethylene and carbon dioxide, total soluble solids, flesh firmness, juice viscosity, pH, total titratable acidity and flesh water content. It was found that skin ground colour was a good indicator of physiological maturity in any one site but was a poor indicator between sites. Of the measured parameters only flesh firmness, total titratable acidity and juice viscosity were found to be useful measures of physiological maturity. Due to the preoccupation of marketers and consumers with flesh firmness, it is proposed that this parameter be used each year to determine the optimal picking colour for fruit in individual orchards. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd