Ποιοτικά χαρακτηριστικά καρπών μανταρινιάς, ποικ. Αρακαπά

Abstract

Citrus belong to the Rutaceae family and in the following six genera: Citrus, Poncirus, Fortunella, Eremocitrus, Microcitrus and Clymenia. Citrus are being cultivated worldwide, being the most important category of fruit crops in Cyrpus. In particular, mandarins are highly appreciated, mainly due to their attractive appearance, their pleasant flavor and their easy peeling. ‘Arakapa’ is a native mandarin (Citrus deliciosa) cultivar, highly appreciated by both growers and consumers in Cyprus mainly due to its aroma and taste, although its fruit holds a big number of seeds. However, to the best of our knowledge, few or no studies have reported the qualitative profile of this cultivar. The present dissertation is one of the first preliminary studies dealing with this cultivar: the aim of the current study was to determine the aforementioned characteristics in fruit harvested from different orchards. Fruit were harvested from five different commercial orchards. Initially, external color parameters (L*,a*,b*) were evaluated and the ratio of edible part has been determined. Subsequently, total soluble solids (T.S.S), titratable acidity (T.A.), the ripening index (T.S.S. /T.A.) and juice content were monitored. Ascorbic acid content was also determined with the employment of the redox titration method, using 2,6 dichlorophenol Indophenol (DCIP). The external color evaluated by CIELab parameters did not show differences among the examined fruit from different orchard and mean values were as follows: L*≈64, a*≈24 and b*≈65. This was also the case for juice content (55-59%). Interestingly, great variability was monitored in total soluble solids (T.S.S) and the total acidity (T.A.). T.S.S. ranged between10.5-15.64% and the T.A. ranged between 0.63-1.37% citric acid; accordingly, the ripening index was in the range 11.3-17.5. Ascorbic acid content ranged 0.35-0.50 mg/ml; in order to further identify the nutritional status of ‘Arakapa’ fruit it is essential to apply the same experimental procedure in other citrus fruits for comparative purposes. Provided that in all orchards the cultivar was grafted in Citrus aurantium rootstock, such differences can be merely attributed to different preharvest treatments applied. The determination of fruit qualitative attributes in successive harvesting periods is expected to shed further light in the profile of ‘Arakapa’ fruit.