Qualitative study of apricot varieties of Prunus armeniaca cv Shahroudi during different harvesting stages

Today, much attention is paid to the quality of fruits, including those of nuclear origin, with regard to their after-harvest life. The purpose of this research was to evaluate some of the qualitative traits during the final stages of growth and determine the time of harvesting apricot of Shahroodi cultivar according to the time and market of consumption. Apricot fruits were harvested in 3 different time intervals (distance between each harvest and another three days). Experiment was conducted on randomized complete block design in three treatments (different stages of harvesting) and four replications (main tree species). The measured qualitative traits included total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), vitamin C, fruit firmness, pH of fruit extract, phenol, flavonoid, total antioxidant capacity, anthocyanin, antioxidant enzymes (peroxidase, catalase, superoxide dismutase) , Polyphenol oxidase) and total protein. All traits were significant at 5% level and changed during harvesting. Antioxidant enzymes increased during harvesting, except polyphenol oxidase, phenols and flavonoids decreased. According to the results, it seems that the best harvest time for this apricot is the second harvest.