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Bee pollination and association of apricot varieties
20-24.Views:190Apricot yields are highly variable according to the season. The variation is caused mainly by the adversities during the critical processes of floral biology, i.e. blooming and fertilisation. On the basis of information concerning blooming time and mutual compatibility relations of apricot varieties a system of securing regular and adequate yields has been developed.
Winter frosts of the continental type are well tolerated by most of the apricots, however, after the end of rest period, flower buds are loosing frost tolerance, 'rapidly.
Being one of the fruit species blooming earliest during the early spring, apricot start to bloom in Hungary around the end of March or early April as a mean of many years, but it also happened, exceptionally that apricot started to bloom at February 20 (at Letenye South Hungary). The early season, exposes the floral organs to frost injuries. As a consequence, apricot orchards on the Great Plain produce low yields in 3 years, intermediate yields in other 3 years out of a ten-year-period.
Moreover, weather conditions during the blooming period are often unfavourable for pollination. Cool, windy and rainy weather prevents the flight of insects and on the other hand, warm spells shorten the blooming process, nectarines and stigmata get dry and the female gametes loose viability before effective pollination occurres.
The fertility of individual cultivars are meeting different obstacles. Apricot cultivars differ greatly in the rate of flowers bearing underdeveloped pistils, which may attain even 60% (e.g. Orangered). New commercial cultivars are often self-incompatible. Local varieties of that type in Hungary are the „óriás" varieties (e.g. Ceglédi óriás, Szegedi mammut), and the new hybrid Ceglédi Piroska. Many of the cultivars are variable in their self-fertility (partially self-fertile): Budapest, Harmat, Korai piros, Mandulakajszi.
Inter-incompatibility is also known in apricots. The „óriás " varieties do not fertilise each other. During the growth of fruits, cool spells (2-4 °C) caused severe fruit shed in Ceglédi óriás.
Apricot flowers produce pollen and nectar at average rates related to other fruit species, thus bees are attracted sufficiently. Bee visits are very variable according to growing site and season. Most of the bees are pollen gatherers but sometimes nectar suckers are in majority. Bee pollination is necessary not only for the self-incompatible varieties but also to enhance the yield of self-fertile varieties.
Taking the blooming and fertility relations of the cultivars into account, plantations should not exceed two rows to a particular self-incompatible varieties, and possibly two different polliniser varieties are suggested to be planted as flanking the block in question.
In commercial plantations 2 to 4 bee colonies per hectare are proposed to move for the whole blooming period.
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Molecular characterization of apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) cultivars using cross species SSR amplification with peach primers
53-57.Views:201Apricot takes an important place in Hungarian fruit production. Considering morphological characteristics of apricots it was concluded that the genetics background of European cultivars is very limited. Molecular markers and their use for genotyping have revolutionized the identification of cultivars. In a classic apricot breeding program, it is important to be able to establish unique DNA profiles of selections to identify them unambiguously and to determine their genetic relationship. Presently SSR is far the most frequently performed technique for genetic diversity studies. In this study there were used peach and apricot primer pairs from four different sources in order to examine microsatellite polymorphism among cultivars and investigate relationships among them. The possibility of cross species amplification among different Prunus species using SSR primers allowed us to use primers developed in peach to study genetic diversity in apricot. In this work, 90% of the primers used were able to amplify SSRs in apricot and more than half of them were polymorphic. With the 10 primer pairs utilized were proven to be sufficient to set unique fingerprint for several cultivars studied. The obtained dendrogram classified of the 45 cultivars included in this study into two major groups and several subgroups.
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Some important growing characteristics of apple and apricot cultivars in two fruit growing regions in Romania
51-56.Views:138The aim of this study was to determine some important growing characteristics of 5 resistant apple (Rajka, Rubinola, Topaz, Otawa and Goldstar) and 7 apricot (NJA 19, Goldrich, Harcot, Venus, Comando, Olimp, Cea mai buna de Ungaria) cultivars in two fruit growing regions in Romania from 2000 to 2003. Height of the apple trees (4-year-old tree) ranged between 1.96 m (cv. Topaz) and 2.39 m (cv. Rubinola). Diameter of the crown ranged from 0.96 m (cv. Goldstar) to 1.12 cm (cv. Rajka). The trunk diameter ranged from 3.5 cm (cv. Goldstar) to 5.0 cm (cv. Rajka). The surface of the trunk section was the lowest for cv. Goldstar (9.7 cm') and the largest for cv. Rajka (19.6 cm). Height of the apricot trees (4 years old tree) ranged between 2.69 m (cv. Venus) and 3.38 m (cv. NJA - 19). Diameter of the crown ranged from 2.59 m (cv. Comandor) to 2.77 m (cv. Cea mai buna de Ungaria). The trunk diameter ranged from 9.54 cm (cv. Goldrich) to 13.30 cm (cv. NJA - 19). Length of annual branches was the lowest for cv. Goldrich (45.1 cm) and the highest for cv. NJA - 19 (83.8 cm). Bud swelling of apricot trees began on 8 March for cv. NJA - 19 and ended on 11 March for the control cultivar (Cea mai buna de Ungaria). The blooming started on 16 March for cv. NJA - 19 and 27 Mach for the control cultivar. Duration of fruit growth was 89 days for cv. NJA - 19 and 128 days for cv. Comandor. When the temperature decreased to 1.5 °C (in 2001), percentage of viable pollen grains ranged between 48.86 % (cv. Olimp) and 91.57 % (cv. Venus). The germinating grains ranged from 31 % (cv. Olimp) to 90 % (cv. Harcot). Free pollination was the lowest for cv. NJA - 19 (29 %) and the highest for cv. Harcot (41%), while self-pollination ranged between 6 (cv. Olimp) and 11 % (cvs. Comondor and Harcot). Apple yield ranged from 16.65 t/ha (cv. Otawa) to 24.35 t/ha (cv. Rajka) and the differences varied from 4.45 t/ha to - 3.25 t/ha compared to the control varieties. Apricot yield ranged from 11.47 kg/ tree or 9.53 t/ha (cv. Cea mai buna de Ungaria), to 38.83 kg/tree or 27.34 t/ha (cv. Olimp) and the differences varied from 3 t/ha to 17 t/ha compared to the control varieties. Apple fruit weight ranged from 162 g (cv. Otawa) to 222 g (cv. Goldstar) and apricot fruit weight from 42.52 g (cv. Goldrich) to 68.38 g (cv. Comandor). Color, taste and aroma were very specific to cultivars.
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Morphological examination of Hungarian apricot rootstock varieties
59-63.Views:179Apricot seedlings are one of the most widely used rootstocks in apricot growing of Hungary. The National List of Hungary contains 7 apricot seedling rootstocks varieties. The production of apricot graft on seedling rootstock takes 3 years from the seed production to the complete graft and requires more space. It is important to provide the trueness to variety name during this process. In the genus Prunoideae not only the plant but also the stone should have typical characteristics. It seems to be useful to examine the morphology of stone. The observed varieties were 'Tengeribarack C.1300', 'Tengeribarack C.1301', 'Tengeribarack C.1650', 'Tengeribarack' C.1652', 'Tengeribarack C.145', 'Tengeribarack C.1426' and 'Tengeribarack C.2546`.1t seems to be the most suitable characteristic to make a distinction between these varieties by stone, the ratio height of stone to lateral width of stone, the ratio of height of stone to ventral width of stone, the ratio of lateral width of stone to ventral width of stone and the ratio of ventral zone to ventral width. From not measured characteristic seems to be most utilizable to make distinction: the fusion of dorsal groove margins, the shape of apex, the presence of a mucro of the apex, the shape of stalk end in lateral view and the texture of lateral surfaces.
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Genotyping Hungarian apricot cultivars for self-(in)compatibility by isoelectric focusing and PCR analysis
69-72.Views:146Self-incompatibility (SI) in flowering plants is a widespread genetic system that promotes out-crossing. In Prunus species the SI is a gametophytic trait, which is controlled by a single multiallelic locus, termed S-locus. S-alleles codify stylar glycoproteins with ribonuclease activity (S-RNases). Our objective was to assess the S-genotype of some Hungarian apricot varieties by isoelectric focusing of stylar RNases as well as by PCR analysis using cherry consensus primers. Consensus primers amplified one or two bands of various sizes. Primers amplifying the 1st intron gained fragments the size of which ranged from 250 to 500 bp; while those amplifying the 2nd intron resulted in fragments of 800-2000 by length. Our data demonstrated that the first intron of the apricot S-RNase gene is shorter than the second one, which coincides with the structure of cherry S-RNase alleles. `Hargrand' (S1S2) and `Harcoe (S1S4) possessed one common S-RNase isoenzyme. Hungarian 'Orias' apricot cultivars showed different bands compared to the previous cultivars, but they shared completely identical patterns confirming that they possess the same S-genotype. 'Bergeron', `Harmat' and 'Korai zamatos' are characterised by an evidently distinct S-RNase pattern. The self-compatible cultivar (`Bergeron') had one allele, which suggests its correspondence to the Sc. Primers for the 2nd intron was unsuccessful in gaining fragments, which indicates that the 2nd intron in the Sc allele is too long to get any amplification. On the basis of our data, identities and differences were revealed in the S-allele constitution of some economically important Hungarian apricot cultivars at protein and DNA levels.
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Fruit bearing shoot characteristics of apricot and sweet cherry cultivars in Hungary
107-110.Views:255: Our study was carried out on 23 apricot and 9 sweet cherry cultivars in February 2005. Fruiting laterals were classified into four groups (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-40 cm and >40 cm) and then the density and setting of flower buds were evaluated and expressed as bud/cm. The flower bud density of four types of fruit bearing shoots and the changes in the frost resistance were studied. Shoots were collected from a young orchard in Gone (apricot), Siófok (sweet cherry) and Nagykutas (sweet cherry). There were significant differences among the cultivars in the density of flower buds. The number of flower buds/cm shoot length ranged between 0.91 and 2.20 in the average of the different fruit bearing shoot types on apricot. Based on the results, the bud density of shorter shoots is generally higher on apricot, but this is not valid for all cultivars. For cvs. Magyarkajszi and Ceglédi bíborkajszi, the highest flower bud density was detected on shoots of medium length (10-40 cm). There were fivefold and almost twofold (1.85) differences in bud density among cultivars on shoots shorter than 10 cm length and longer than 40 cm length, respectively. The ratio of the bud densities of the different types of shoots also ranged between wide boundaries. For cvs. Bayoto, Toyesi and Toyiba this ratio was 2.5-3.5, while for cv. Magyarkajszi it was 1.3.
In the average of fruit bearing shoots on sweet cherry, cv. Bigarreau Burlat (1.10 bud/cm) and cv. Germersdorfi 45 (0.61 bud/cm) had the largest and the lowest flower bud density, respectively. Among the fruit bearing shoots, the largest flower bud density was in the group of 0-10 cm fruiting laterals. Among cultivars, cv. Bigarreau Burlat had the largest bud density. In the groups of n- i 0 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-30 cm and 30-40 cm fruiting laterals, the lowest flower bud density was for cv. Linda, cv. Germersdorfi 45, cv. Ferrovia and cv. Sunburst, respectively. On cvs. Van and Bigarreau Burlat, large numbers of double-set flower buds were observed on the fruit bearing shoots longer than 20 cm. Fruit setting differed on the different types of fruit bearing shoots, with the lowest value measured on above 40 cm shoots. The highest fruit setting was observed on cv. Katalin, while the lowest value was measured on cv. Germersdorfi 3.
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Susceptibility of fruit of some plum and apricot cultivars to brown rot
53-55.Views:255In this three-year study, incidence of brown rot (Monilinia spp.) on fruit of plum and apricot cultivars were evaluated in Kecskemét, Hungary. Results showed that most plum and apricot cultivars expressed symptoms caused by Monilinia spp, graded between 2 and 4 (10–75%) by the end of the summer in 2008–2010. Assessments on plum showed that only cultivars ‘Besztercei’, ‘Silvia’ and ‘Tuleu gras’ were partly tolerant to Monilinia spp., while the most susceptible cultivars were ‘Bluefre’ and ‘Stanley’. The most tolerant apricot cultivars were ‘Borsi-féle kései rózsa’, ‘Piroska’, ‘Pannónia’ and ‘Magyar kajszi’ while the most susceptible ones were cvs. ‘Budapest’ and ‘Mandulakajszi’. Susceptibility classes showed that only one plum (’Silvia’) and one apricot cultivar (‘Borsi-féle kései rózsa’) were available with low susceptibility.
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Postharvest methyl jasmonic acid and hot water can reduce the internal breakdown and quality loss of apricot fruit at shelf life
31-34.Views:214The aim of this study was to investigate the postharvest effect of methyl jasmonic acid (MJ) and hot water on internal break-down and quality loss of apricot fruit under shelf life conditions. Cultivar Flavor cot apricot fruit were used to treat with water as control treatment, with 0.2 mmol/L MJ and with hot water 35 oC for 5 min. Fruit were stored at room temperature and were examined every 2 days for internal break-down and quality loss. Results showed that treated fruits with MJ and hot water showed the lowest weight loss and the highest firmness during all assessment times. Control fruits showed losing of customer acceptance from the day 2 of shelf life and then decreased dramatically to approximately loss all the acceptance at day 8. The SSC showed sever reduction in untreated fruit after day 6 at shelf life. Total phenol content reduced and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) increased in all assessment times for all treatments. Meanwhile MJ showed the best values for phenol content and lowest PPO activity. The results supported the idea of using some elicitors like methyl jasmonic and hot water treatments to enhance shelf life of apricot fruit.
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Incidence of fungal diseases on leaves of apricot and plum cultivars in Hungary
29-31.Views:230In this two-year study, incidence of Polystigma rubrum on plum, and Apiognomonia erytrostoma on apricot were evaluated on several stone fruit cultivars in Hungary. Results showed that most apricot cultivars expressed symptoms caused by A. erytrostoma, graded between 2 and 3 (10-50%) by the end of the summer in 2005 and 2006. The most tolerant apricot cultivars were Budapest and Mandulakajszi while the most susceptible ones were 'Magyar kajszi' and 'Piroska'. Assessments made on plum showed that most of the plum cultivars were tolerant or lowly susceptible to P. rubrum such as 'Ageni', 'Althann ringló', 'Bluefre', 'Cacanska najbolja', 'Silvia', 'Ruth Gerstetter', 'Tuleu gras' and 'Utility'. The most susceptible plum cultivars to P. rubrum were 'Besztercei clones' and 'Debreceni Muskotály'.
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Evaluation of foreign apricot cultivars in Hungary
51-55.Views:134The extension and renewal of cultivar assortment is one of the key elements in the improvement of apricot production. Competitiveness can only be achieved by planting cultivars which meet all market requirements and yield reliably under the environmental conditions of the given production site. Beside breeding programmes, the range of cultivars can also be extended by the domestication of foreign cultivars. Most apricot cultivars have low ecological tolerance, therefore, cultivars improved or developed in other countries should only be involved in production after due consideration. The suitability of such cultivars has to be examined for several years. Foreign apricot cultivars have been tested in our cultivar collection for over 10 years. Hereby, the most important aspects of market value and the adaptability to the environmental conditions of the production site are demonstrated. According to the results of our examinations the production of early ripening 'Orange Red' and `Goldrich' can be promising in Hungary. From cultivars ripening in the peak season only those are expected to be widely produced which differ from Hungarian cultivars or surplus them in some respects. From the cultivars examined 'Harogem' which ripens at the same time as `Gönci magyar kajszi' has remarkably aesthetic fruits with glossy surface, while the large fruits of `Hargrand' has firm pulp. Late ripening cultivars have significant importance in the northern border of production. According to our examinations the cultivars 'Callatis', `Comandor and `Sirena' are applicable in Hungary to extend the harvesting season.
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The effect of rootstock on the tree size of apricot cultivars
57-58.Views:124The apricot is propagated on several kinds of rootstocks in Hungary. The main aspects of selecting rootstocks are as follows: adaptability to environmental circumstances, primarily soil conditions, ensuring the tree size that complies with the cultivation method, and compatibility with the grafted cultivar. At advanced, intensive orchards rootstocks ensuring smaller tree size are privileged. For the establishment of the appropriate cultivation system, it is important to be aware of the expected growing vigour and tree size of certain cultivarrootstock combinations when the orchard is designed. In the course of our experiment the size of 15-year-old trees of 4 apricot cultivars were examined on several rootstocks at an orchard in Siófok. On the basis of the data measured for each cultivar-rootstock combination, it can be stated that trees on wild apricot (P. armeniaca) rootstocks are the largest in size. Trees on prune (P. domestica) rootstock have 10-15% smaller crown volume than the previous combination. Trees on bullace (P. insititia) rootstock have the smallest tree size and their crown volume is 30-50% smaller than that of the trees on P. armeniaca rootstock. Thus, the application of prune and bullace rootstocks is beneficial at intensive apricot orchards as the size of trees can be reduced by their usage. However, their compatibility with the cultivars and their adaptability to the ecological conditions of the production site have to be tested before applying them widely. In the course of our research incompatibility was not experienced for any of the cultivar-rootstock combinations examined. Nevertheless, the drought tolerance of the rootstocks examined showed significant differences. Trees on P. domestica or P. insititia rootstock requires more water than those on P. armeniaca rootstock, therefore, they have to be irrigated.
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Comparison of flower bud development in almond, apricot and peach genotypes
93-98.Views:200The phenological processes of flower bud development of stone fruits during dormancy are not thoroughly known. The yield of these species, especially of almond, apricot and peach is determined basically by dormancy of flower buds, the survival rate of buds during winter frosts and by their ability to develop normal floral organs in the next spring. After the initiation of floral primordia, flower bud development is taking place in continuous space until blooming, though at different speed characteristic to the species. To study flower bud development during dormancy we applied two alternative methods in different genotypes of almond, apricot and peach: (1) examination of pollen development (microsporogenesis), and (2) the measurement of pistil length. The samples were collected from the central part of Hungary during the dormancy period of 2004/2005. The three fruit species differed significantly in the speed of flower bud development, it was the quickest in almond, followed by apricot and peach. In addition to the species, there were significant differences in the process of microsporogenesis and pistil development between genotypes within species and also between the different types of shoots on which the buds were located. On short shoots buds developed at a higher speed, than on long shoots. Based on our observations, on the short shoots the period of endodormancy was shorter with 5-30 days, according to genotypes, compared to the long shoots. This difference, however, decreased to 2-3 days by the time of blooming.
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Flower density and winter damage of apricot and peach varieties
53-56.Views:224Hungary is located on the northern boundary of economical apricot and peach production. The present assortment of varieties and the actual, not adequately selected growing sites cause a permanent risk of winter and spring frosts in their cultivation. The field observations are performed at Debrecen, the Experiment Station Pallag, on 20 apricot and 21 peach varieties. The flower density among the varieties attained 3-4-fold differences. Three categories have been suggested for both species. The density was inferior in Hungary established varieties compared with the new varieties of foreign origin. The minimum temperatures of January 9, 2009 was –17,6 °C , and of December 21, 2009 also –17,6 °C. In some varieties the damage of buds attained 100%. For estimating the yield security, we need to consider also the flower density and the frost damage together. For a mediocre yield, we need a flower density in both species of at least 0.2 living bud/cm. The results confirm the statement that in Hungary, the revision of growing sites is indispensable in order to develop a profitable and competitive apricot and peach growing industry.
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Variation between some apricot varieties in regard to flowering phenology in Boldogkôváralja, Hungary
7-9.Views:299The aim of this study was the estimation of blossoming of 14 apricot cultivars in Boldogkôváralja in 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons. And this will help growers to select appropriate varieties to their weather conditions. For this target the blooming period of 19 apricot varieties of different origin was observed in three subsequent years. There was no large difference in the beginning of blooming in the different years, and the greatest variation between the start date of flowering was about 1 to 3 days as the place of experiment site near to northern border and also, length of flowering period of apricot trees is also inversely related to date when blooming started. The little differences in flowering dates and flowering periods due to the high temperature through the three seasons of study.
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Factors affecting apricot fruit antioxidant capacity and mineral element contents
95-99.Views:201Several epidemiological studies revealed that the consumption of antioxidant compounds and the risk of atherosclerosis, increased blood pressure or cancer are inversely proportional. The individual amounts and relative proportions of macro- and micro elements present in food is also of great consideration since these are involved in a wide range of physiological processes including the influence of the redox homeostasis. The antioxidant power and mineral nutrient content of fruits might be affected by several factors including genotype, ripening stage, year-effects or a wide range of environmental conditions. This study was carried out to survey the antioxidant power and mineral element content in fresh fruits of apricot and analyse some genetic and environmental factors that may have important contribution to the inner content of apricot fruits. In addition, the influencing effect of the extraction procedure used for antioxidant analyses was also tested. Our analyses indicate that a considerable fraction of antioxidant capacity is attributable to the hydrophilic antioxidants. The genetic background has crucial importance in determining apricot fruit antioxidant capacity and mineral nutrient content; however, the growing season and the ripening time of fruits may have also important effects.
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Antioxidant characterization of apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) cultivars and hybrids
47-51.Views:168This report forms a part in our long-term study dedicated to reveal the antioxidant properties of apricot fruits through several years. Nineteen apricot cultivars and 8 hybrids were comparatively analysed. Total phenol content and antioxidant activity showed a good correlation. The tested cultivars and hybrids could be arranged in three groups representing different antioxidant activities, 12 entries were involved in the group with relatively low antioxidant capacity (FRAP value < 1500 mmol/L); 10 accessions were classified in the group with medium antioxidant capacity (1500 mmol/L < FRAP value < 3000 mmol/L); and 5 genotypes were grouped to the category of high antioxidant value (FRAP > 3000 mmol/L). `Morden 604' produced a surpassingly outstanding antioxidant character. H-donating ability has further supported our results. Phenolic substances were accumulated and ferric reducing ability was increased in the ripe fruits compared to the unripe ones. High levels of variations in the total phenol content and antioxidant capacity in of apricot fruits were revealed in this study. Environment, year or rootstocks may also influence the antioxidant properties of fruits. however it seems to be convincing that crossing parents with outstanding antioxidant character can produce hybrids with higher antioxidant capacity. Hungarian apricots are widely appreciated for their premium flavour and — as it was evidenced in this study — for their relatively good antioxidant properties. However, delicious fruits should be made functional foods having beneficial health effects through accumulating large amounts of antioxidant molecules in the fruit flesh.
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Incidence of postharvest decays on cultivars of pear, apricot, sour cherry and peach under two storage conditions
63-65.Views:291In this two-year study, postharvest decays of pear, apricot, sour cherry and peach cultivars under two storage methods (TC and CA) were determined after four monthes storage periods; and then causal agents of postharvest decays of two pear cultvars were idenfified under traditional cold storage conditions. Results showed that postharvest decay was lower under controlled atmosphere compared to traditional cold one. Decay was lower on pear and the largest deacy occured on peach and apricot cultivars. Cultivars of fruit species also showed differences in incidence of fruit decays. Incidence of decays was independent on year effect. Under controlled atmosphere, postharvest decay ranged between 0 an 8% for pear, and between 5 and 12% for apricot, and between 6 and 11% for sour cherry, and between 5 and 15% for peach. Under traditional cold storage, postharvest decay ranged between 16 an 21% for pear, and between 15 and 39% for apricot, and between 10 and 22% for sour cherry, and between 19 and 33% for peach. Incidence of pear fruit damage ranged between 7.5 and 12.3%. Most damage started from injured fruit or wounded fruit. Five types of damage occurred ont he pear fruits in both years: Penicillium spp., Monilinia spp., Chondrostereum spp., other pathogens and mechanical injury. The most common damage was caused by Penicillium spp., Monilina spp. and Chondrostereum spp. On both pear cultivars in both years.
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Effect of organic and integrated farming on carotenoid and tocopherol content of apricot fruits
15-18.Views:203In modern and healthy diets antioxidants play an important role providing natural defence against serious diseases. Therefore it is recommended to include fruits and vegetables having high antioxidant capacity in daily diet in a due course. Apricot is one of the fruits receiving an increasing attention in this field. This study was conducted to investigate the composition and content of fat-soluble carotenoids and tocopherols in different varieties of apricot using recently developed liquid chromatographic methods. Also it was aimed to compare organic and integrated farming in their effect on carotenoid and tocopherol content of the fruits. The results showed that apricot fruit are rich in vital carotenoids and bioactive tocopherols with significant variation between different varieties. The organic farming had favourable effect on the level of the major carotenoids and depending on variety this technology either increases or does not have significant influence on vitamin E content.
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Changing of inert content values of apricot varieties
39-41.Views:170The consumers have been exigent increasingly about excellent quality. The speci fie flavour and fragrance of apricot evolve during ripening. We need to be acquainted with changing of inert content during ripening to the choosing of optimal harvest time. The Regional University Knowled ge Centre -Research and Development in Foodstuff Chain project had presented an opportun ity to study the inner content of apricot. Our aim was to study evaluation of health care attributes of apricot fruit. We investigated different ripeness samples of four apricot varieties ('Mandulakajszi', 'Pann 6nia', 'Gonci magyar kajszi'. 'Harcot') in our study of 2007-2009. Samples were taken the orchard of Sóskútfruct Ltd. Hungary. We had measured the water soluble antioxidant capacity, polyphenol-, f3-carotene content and the dissimilar sugar and acid-fractions during ripening. We had experienced significant different in inert content between varieties.
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Evaluation of potential of fruit weight and fruit width and their interrelationships in the set of apricot genotypes
47-53.Views:98Within the period of 1994-1999, variability of fruit weight and width was evaluated in altogether 24 apricot genotypes. It is concluded that the genotype and climatic conditions of individual years are the factors causing variability in these two parameters of apricot fruits. Variability of fruit weight was significantly higher (approximately 3-times) than that of fruit width. When evaluated on the base of their width, 75.0% and 95.8% of apricots were classified into the groups of extra and first quality, respectively. As genotypes with the maximum fruit width (i. e. above 50 mm) the following cultivars were classified: 'Velkopavlovicka LE-6/2', 'NJA-1', 'M 45', 'M-25' and lednicka (M-90-A)'. The value of fruit width (in mm) corresponded with its weight (in g) only within the range of 40 — 45 mm. With the increasing and/or decreasing size of apricot fruit the changes in fruit weight were more pronounced than in those in fruit width. Within the set of genotypes under study, this relationship may be expressed by the equation y = 0.1234 — 7.6605 + 152.76; the corresponding values of correlation coefficient and coefficient of curve determination are r = 0.95-H- and R2 = 0.959.
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Floral bud development, blooming time and fertility relations of some Romanian apricot varieties in Hungary
41-43.Views:233Due to the geographical situation of Hungary the introduction of late ripening apricot varieties holds great interest. In apricot production floral bud development during winter, blooming time, and the fertilisation properties are important factors. These characters were studied in six late ripening Romanian apricot varieties (Callatis, Comandor, Litoral, Selena, Sirena, Sulmona) in Szigetcsép representing the northern site of the lowland growing area. During the mild winter of 1997/98 the dynamics of floral bud development in the Romanian varieties was a few days slower during the whole examination period compared to Gönci magyar kajszi. Their meiotic divisions occurred between 1 and 5 February. Next winter the meiotic division started later at 28 February, due to the cold weather. In these conditions the dynamics of bud development was similar in all the varieties. Averaged over seven years blooming of the Romanian varieties started 1-3 days later than in Gönci magyar kajszi. All the Romanian varieties showed self-fertility to some extent, however, application of other pollen donor sources is necessary for the safety of production, with the exception of Callatis.
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Comparison of honeybee behaviour in blooming fruit plantations
147-151.Views:191Field observations were made on the fl ower visiting behaviour of honeybee foragers in commercial fruit plantations of apricot, Japanese plums, sour cherry, apple and pear. The number of inspected cultivars was 18. The intensity of fl ower visiting by honey bees was markedly different when data of different fruit species are compared. Most intense bee activity was registered on the Japanese plums, somewhat less on apricots, the intensity diminished signifi cantly with apples and pears. Our data presented on the honeybee visitation of Japanese plums can be regarded as new fi nding because no information has been available so far on the relative attractiveness of this fruit species compared to European fruit tree species. Japanese plums were somewhat more attractive to honeybees than apricot and much more attractive than sour cherry, apple and pear. The behaviour of honeybees as visiting the blooming trees displayed specifi c differences according to the fruit species (apricot, sour cherry, pear), which coincide largely with earlier results. It is notable that the fl ower visiting behaviour of honeybees on Japanese plums has been found to be fairly similar to the same on European plums.
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Calculation of climatic probability of winter and spring frost damages in the main peach and apricot growing districts of Hungary
99-106.Views:172The probability of winter and spring frost damages experienced in peach and apricot plantations has been assessed in 5 growing regions of Hungary (Szeged-Szatymaz, around the lake Balaton, Mecsekalja, hills of Buda, Mátraalja) and (Mecsekalja, hills of Buda, PestGodo116, Duna-Tisza Mize, Matra-Bükkalja) during the period between 1951 and 2000.
Frost tolerance of flower buds on a given shoot sample is expressed by the mean value assessed after frost damage (LT50), and the meteorological records of the growing sites raised between 1951 and 2000 are used to calculate the probability of frost damage. In peach, the difference between growing sites and between varieties may become two fold as for the chance of repeated frost damage at a probability of 50 %. In apricot, the probability of frost damage may exhibit differences between growing sites up to 20 % as for susceptible varieties, and 16 % for frost tolerant varieties. Frost damage may vary between 4 and 18 % depending on the genuine frost tolerance of the varieties. Peach is afflicted by low temperature causing substantial losses of yield at the highest probability in the region Szeged-Szatymaz and at the lowest in Mátraalja. Apricot is, on the other hand, most endangered in the Duna-Tisza Mize region, while the lowest probability of frost damage is expected around Mecsek and Buda.
The critical period of frost damage in the mid of January in Szeged-Szatymaz region, in Mecsekalja the mid of February showed the highest probability of frost damage. All growing sites are frequented at high chances by frost damages occurring during and closely after the blooming period. Duna-Tisza köze is mainly afflicted in early March, whereas Mátra-Bükkalja in mid of January and each March.
The probability of temperatures below zero degree has been assessed in all the 5 regions observed. Around April 5-8 the probability of freezing temperatures diminishes steeply at all sites, whereas the risk of frost increases again around April 9— 11. That climatic peculiarity of should be taken into consideration in choosing growing sites or varieties.
Postulating the effects of a global warming up of the climate, the chances of avoiding frost damages at different growing sites by delaying the blooming dates are considered. According to our calculations, the delay of blooming by 5 days may diminish the risk of frost damage by 4-20 % at the growing sites examined, whereas a delay of 10 days reduces the risk by 37-85 % in both fruit species.
Calculations offered an answer on the question of climatic changes, whether the probability of winter and spring frosts damage changed during the 50 years. The long list of data shows the diminishing chances of winter frosts, while the probability of temperatures risking spring frost damages increased after the early 1970-es up to now.
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Hazardous element content and consumption risk of 9 apricot cultivars
61-65.Views:258The heavy metals pollution is one of the problems that arise due to the increased uses of fertilizers and other chemicals to meet the higher demands of food production for human consumption. In order to assess possible health risk of apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) consumption, levels of Arsenic, Cadmium, Mercury and Lead were determined in fresh and dried samples of "Jumbo cot", "Tom cot", "Gold strike", "Gold bar", "Bergeron", "Bergarouge", "Sweet cot", "Yellow cot" and "Zebra" apricot cultivars. Wet digestion of samples with concentrate HNO3 – H2O2 digester mixture and inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectroscopy was used. Highest content of As, Cd, Hg and Pb among all cultivars, were 0.5, 0.04, 1.5 and 0.5mg/kg of dried apricot samples. Fresh fruit samples also contain 0.2, 0.016, 0.6 and 0.2 mg/kg of Arsenic, Cadmium, Mercury and Lead respectively. Daily intake of metals, hazard quotient and health risk index to reveal health risk possibility of dried and fresh fruits consumption were calculate and compared.
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Variability and differences of growth vigour in the set of 36 genotypes of apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.).
30-34.Views:122Growth vigour of 36 apricot cultivars and new hybrids grafted on apricot seedling rootstock (Prunus armeniaca L.) was evaluated on the base of measurements of stem girth from the 411' to the 10th year after planting. There were differences in growth vigour of genotypes under study. In the evaluated set of genotypes the control cultivar 'Veecor may be classified as a genotype with below-average growth vigour. Only four genotypes (-Reale d'Imola-, Sanagian -Moldavskii krupnoplodnyl and 'LE-2385') were found with significantly higher growth vigour than that of control cultivar 'Veecot' in years of the end of experimental period. Two genotypes (Farmingdale', -LE-SE0-24') were found with significantly higher growth vigour only at the beginning of experimental period and one cultivar ('Vivagold-) with significantly lower growth vigour in the first four years. Genotypes with different growth vigour can be used in further breeding programmes and/or as components inhibiting or supporting the growth in indirect vegetative propagation. Within the whole experimental period, the rank of growth vigour of genotypes practically did not change. This was demonstrated by highly significant or significant coefficients of correlation existing between individual pairs of years (r=0.32+ to r=0.96++). As far as the time difference between years in individual pairs of years was higher, the correlation coefficients were lower. In individual years, variability of growth vigour was relatively low and ranged from 9.83 to 13.64%.