Antioxidant activity, volatile composition and sensory profile of four new very-early apricots (Prunus armeniaca L.).
BACKGROUND
Very-early apricot cultivars are interesting owing to the fact that they will be available in markets before any other cultivar. In order to achieve good fruit quality, very-early apricots require appropriate size, weight and color, good balance of sugars and organic acids, proper content of bioactive compounds, relatively strong apricot aroma as well as acceptable sensory quality.


RESULTS
Physical, chemical, antioxidant and sensory properties showed important variations among apricot cultivars. These differences were basically attributed to genetic reasons. Four very-early apricot cultivars were studied, namely 'Mirlo Blanco', 'Mirlo Anaranjado', 'Colorao' and 'Mogador'. All of them showed proper size and weight, but their contents of organic acids, sugars and bioactive compounds were low and the number of volatile compounds was also low. However, very-early apricots showed an appropriate sensory profile for fresh consumption.


CONCLUSION
Regarding physical, chemical and volatile composition and sensory properties, very-early apricot cultivars could be recommended for fresh consumption. However, future research must be focused on increasing their contents of sugars, organic acids and bioactive and volatile compounds, perhaps via cultural practices such as deficit irrigation and/or mulching.
['Melgarejo|Pablo|P|', 'Calín-Sánchez|Ángel|Á|', 'Carbonell-Barrachina|Ángel A|ÁA|', 'Martínez-Nicolás|Juan José|JJ|', 'Legua|Pilar|P|', 'Martínez|Rafael|R|', 'Hernández|Francisca|F|']
D000328:Adult D000383:Agriculture D000975:Antioxidants D002241:Carbohydrates D002264:Carboxylic Acids D003116:Color D005260:Female D005638:Fruit D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009812:Odorants D059808:Polyphenols D027861:Prunus D012677:Sensation D012903:Smell D013045:Species Specificity D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
antioxidant activity volatiles color SPME descriptive sensory analysis organic acids and sugars