Changes of the apricot variety choice in Hungary

30 years ago, Hungary was one of the most significant apricot producers in Europe, which produced around 100,000 tons and exported yearly about 20,000 tons of apricots. The present figures are 20,000 – 40,000 t/year production and 2-3,000 t/year export. The considerable variation of yields is caused by the risk of winter and spring frosts coupled with obsolete technologies. The security of production could be improved substantially by transferring the plantations from the lowland to the hilly regions of the country of 170-350 m above sea level. At the same time, technologies have been developed with the purpose to moderate the risk of spring frosts. The majority of traditional plantations is planted loosely (8 x 5 m, 7 x 4 m) with long trunks and umbrella crowns. Irrigation and fruit thinning were not applied generally. During the last decennia, however, intensive orchards have been planted on several hundred hectares (5-6 x 4 m, short trunks, vase-type crowns). They start fruiting early, yield profusely (20 - 30 t/ha) and produce excellent fruit quality. The reorganised national food commerce and the increasing international retailers have requested a different range of fruit qualities. The assortment was partially replaced with new type of apricots. The yielding safety and marketability of the new varieties has been studied on a range of growing sites. Threefold difference in the flower bud densities were observed between varieties. Frost damage has been scored both in the field as well as in laboratory tests. Under Hungarian conditions, those varieties yielded good and regularly, which develop many flower buds and stay dormant for a longer time, i.e. they are frost tolerant in a practical sense. Less decline in quality during storage, i.e. storability is also an advantage of most new varieties. The highest scores received the varieties ‘Bergarouge’, ‘Goldrich’, and ‘Tom Cot’. For sensory tests, a judging system has been developed with 100 points applied to 11 parameters. An easily perceptible profile-diagram visualises the differences of the varieties compared. The Hungarian consumers generally require a taste and aroma typical of apricots, beside sugar content and juiciness. This is proved by the tight correlation between general impression and taste (r = 0.888), as well as between general impression and sweetness (r = 0.917).