Abstract
Five apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) cultivars were examined throughout fruit development period to monitor the changes in quality characteristics including hardness, ºBrix, color, titratable acidity and pH. Changes in the amount of sugars (fructose, glucose and sucrose) and organic acids (citric, malic and quinic) were also determined by HPLC. The predominant sugar of cultivars found to be glucose at the initial ripening stages; however, sucrose or glucose became predominant at the end of fruit maturation. Sugar/ acid rate was found to be the highest in Hasanbey (HB) cultivar during unripe period, while Kabaası (KA) showed the highest value at full ripeness. Low soluble solid containig varieties of Zerdali (ZD) and HB reached fruit maturity earlier than the other cultivars. Soğancı (SO) measured as the hardest fruit at maturity while ZD was the softest cultivar. Chroma as a measure of color, was found to be well corelated with maturity level rather than L value. In the course of ripening, total acid content decreased along with the increasing amount of total sugar for all cultivars.
