Evolution of Some Fruit Quality Parameters during Development and Ripening of Three Apricot Cultivars and Effect of Harvest Maturity on Postharvest Maturation

The objective of this study was to evaluate the fruit development, the quality at harvest and the shelf-life changes of three apricot cultivars—‘Spring Blush’, ‘Robada’, and ‘Kioto’—produced in the conditions of the Southwest Iberian Peninsula. Pomological characteristics and global quality (colour, firmness, total soluble solids, and total acidity) were weekly evaluated during fruit growth and ripening. Apricots were harvested at commercial ripening, and six and three days before, were tested for each harvest on the harvesting day and after three and five days of shelf-life at 20 °C, evaluating chlorophyll and carotenoids content and sensory quality. ‘Spring Blush’ was the earliest cultivar with a small calibre, and the change in colour was found to depend more on the evolution during the shelf-life than on the harvest date; although the panellists rated it well, it presented a significant lack of firmness for successful marketing. ‘Robada’ was the cultivar with the lowest evolution of colour, sugar and acid content, and it was the worst valued by tasters. In ‘Kioto’, differences in soluble solids, acidity, and colour were of high importance in the last days of development on the tree. ‘Kioto’ was the cultivar that showed the largest fruit size and colouring during the ripening on the tree, as well as the one with the highest overall quality that improves during shelf-life.