Segregation of apricots for storage potential using non-destructive technologies

This study was set up to identify critical maturity indices affecting storage potential of apricots and demonstrate the potential for using non-destructive measurements to segregate harvested crops for sequential marketing. Fruit of two apricot (Prunus armeniaca) cultivars ('Clutha Gold' and 'Genevieve') were harvested and stored for four weeks at 0 °C followed by four days of simulated shelf life at 20 °C. Fruit colour, acoustic firmness, impact firmness, flesh firmness (FF0), dry matter content and soluble solids content measured non-destructively at harvest were correlated to the flesh firmness measured at the end of refrigerated storage and simulated shelf life (FFFinal) through stepwise regression. The regression models indicated that FF0 is a predominant factor determining FFFinal. According to the exponential model describing the relationship between FF0 and FFFinal, 'Genevieve' and 'Clutha Gold' could be stored at 0 °C for four weeks if harvested at firmness above 47 or 56 N, respectively. Segregation of harvested crops according to FF0 estimated from VNIR would enable sequential marketing of fruit according to storage potential to reduce fruit loss.