Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

EVALUATION OF APRICOT CULTIVARS UNDER TEMPERATE CONDITIONS

Kiran Kour, Amit Jasrotia, R.M Sharma, V.K Wali and Arti Sharma

Abstract

A study was undertaken to evaluate performance of five apricot cultivars Kaisha, New Castle, Moorpark, CITH-3 and Harcot on the basis of phenological and pomological characteristics for two years. The maximum flowering duration (17 and 15 days) and period for fruit development (86 and 82 days) were recorded in CITH-3 for both 2010 and 2012, respectively. The maximum fruit weight (41.26 and 41.33 g), fruit diameter (37.34 and 37.93 mm), fruit length (38.31 and 38.67 mm), fruit volume (37.34 and 36.85 cm3) and stone weight (2.60 and 2.57 g) were observed in New Castle for both 2010 and 2012, respectively. Kaisha cultivar was also found to be superior in terms of chemical characteristics of fruits such as T.S.S (17.70 and 17.90oB), acidity (1.01 and 0.97 %), total sugars (10.40 and 10.37 %), reducing sugar (6.14 and 6.18 %) and TSS: acid ratio (18.28 and 18.88) for 2010 and 2012, respectively.