Wring Test
The stone must separate easily from the flesh without flesh adhering to the visible half of the stone when fruit is cut with a knife around the suture of the apricot to the stone and the two halves of the…
Flesh Firmness
Flesh firmness is not a maturity parameter for inspection. However, it can be a useful tool to reduce the development of gel breakdown. The recommended flesh firmness as measured with a penetrometer fitted with a plunger of 6mm in diameter…
Other Fruit Quality Requirements at Pack
Disorder The following quality requirements needs to be adhered to when packing apricots, i.e General appearance Shape Lenticelspots Dry cracks : Suture, Shoulder, Cheek Picking injuries Diameter Uniformity in size Ripeness Torn out stems Hailmarks Foreign matter : chemical, leaves…
Handling after Harvest, Cooling and Shipping
Handling after harvest Ideally apricots should be picked and packed on the same day and cooled to -0.5 °C as soon as possible after packing Research has shown that if this is not possible, a total delay of 12 hours…
Gel Breakdown
Definition Apricot fruit with gel breakdown (GB) have a normal external appearance but exhibit gelatinous breakdown of the inner flesh tissue surrounding the stone while the outer flesh tissue has a healthy appearance. With increasing severity the disorder spreads outwards,…
Overripeness
Definition Overripeness (OR) in apricot fruit manifests as translucent breakdown of the flesh tissue below the fruit skin which spreads inwards towards the stone with increasing severity and from which cell fluids can be readily expressed. General information While internal…
Air Freight
Harvest maturity There is a misconception that apricots destined for air freight can or should be harvested significantly more mature. Transit temperatures for air-freight fruit vary depending on circumstances. However, in most cases air and fruit pulp temperature recordings on…