Harvest Maturity
- Wring Test
Must comply with wring test with a tolerance of less than 30% of fruit having flesh adhering to stone after wring test.[APR1]
- Skin Colour
Minimum plate no. 3 on colour chart.
- Total Soluble Solids (TSS%)
No minimum but market dependant.
- Flesh Firmness
No specification but can be used as an indicator of storability. For optimum storability not more than 30% of the apricots must have a flesh firmness below 2.0 kg determined with 6.0 mm plunger.[APR2]
Other Quality Requirements At Pack
- Quality Requirements
Packaging And Cold Storage
- Internal Packaging (Standard Loose Pack)
Use one white poly-urethane foam pad (3 mm) underneath and on top of pulp trays but use 2 foam pads on top of the fruit on the top layer.
- Punnets
Punnets can be used but cold storage is generally one week shorter than in loose packs.
- Quality Requirements
If apricots are transported over long distances more foam pads may be needed on top of the fruit in the top three layers of boxes in each pallet. The aim is to immobilise the fruit to prevent rub marks. In extreme cases foam pads can also be used on top of the pulp tray as well as on the top of the fruit. A wooden top deck on top of the pallet will also reduce rub marks.
- Cold Storage
- The maximum recommended cold storage period for Charisma apricots in the standard loose pack is 35 days from the harvest date. For fruit packed in punnets the recommended maximum cold storage period is 28 days.
- Internal disorders can develop exponentially during cold storage and cold storage duration should be as short as possible.
- Decay management must start pre-harvest and be carried through to point of sale.
- [APR7] Decay