Published in Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture, Volume LXII
Written by Lenuța CHIRA, Adrian CHIRA, Elena DELIAN, Ligia ION, Constanța ALEXE
For apricot fruits an important problem is to define the optimal picking time, the best storage variant and the variety availability for storage as to avoid having different quality levels between on–tree and in-store maturity. In response to this problem and some others that may arise, the research was performed in the orchard of the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest. Early results have revealed that fruits from 9 apricot cultivars evaluated towards maturity in all the storage variants: NA-normal atmosphere (T=26°C), CA-cold atmosphere (T=2- 3°C, relative humidity 78 to 83%) and MA-modified atmosphere (T=2-3°C, relative humidity 85 to 90%) by wrapping the storage case in plastic film. The MA storage variant may be positively considered since the total losses (both in quantity and quality) were lower than in the NA and CA variants. The best response to temporary storage was found in the late maturing varieties ʻFavoritʼ, ʻOlimpʼ and ʻExcelsiorʼ and in the semi-early maturing variety ʻDaciaʼ, the storage period length being of 8 days in NA, 14 days in CA and 30 days in MA.
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