Diversity on color and phenolic compounds in apricot fruits

Turkey dominate world apricot production for a long time sharing 23% of world fresh apricot production and the country also realizes 82% of the total dried apricot trade of the world. In this study, phenolic compounds and fruit skin color in eight apricot cultivars grown in Malatya province of Turkey and correlations between phenolic compounds and fruit skin color were determined. Among apricot cultivars, 'Wilson Delicious' was the most orange-colored fruit skin color. Pyrogallol and rutin were found to be predominant phenolic compounds for all cultivars. Pearson correlation coefficients between pyrogallol, catechol, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, epigallocatechin and b color values were found statistically significant (P < 0.01). 'Harcot' cultivar came into prominence because of high pyrogallol (1596.26 mu g g(-1)), catechol (119.89 mu g g(-1)), chlorogenic acid (281.44 mu g g(-1)), caffeic acid (167.86 mu g g(-1)) and epigallocatechin (132.46 mu g g(-1)) levels. Overall 'Ordubat' cultivar had the lowest phenolic compounds. Among the yellow-colored cultivars, 'Harcot' and 'Wilson Delicious' had the richest phenolic compounds among yellow and orange-colored cultivars, respectively.