Pomological and fruit quality characteristics of ‘Halman’ and ‘Raktsey-Karpo’ apricot cultivars of trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, India

The purpose of this study was to study the pomological and fruit quality characteristics of Halman and Raktsey-Karpo, the two popular apricot cultivars of trans-Himalayan Ladakh region. The fruit weight of Halman was 13.0 g while that of Raktsey Karpo was 18.7 g, which shows that the two popular cultivars of Ladakh region are of low fruit weight. Seed weight of Halman was 1.2 g while that of Raktsey Karpo was 1.9 g. TSS of the two cultivars was high and the values were 15.8 and 19.6° Brix for Halman and Raktsey Karpo, respectively. Pit colour in terms of lightness (L*) of Raktsey Karpo cultivar was 48.2 in contrast to 17.8 in Halman. Vitamin content of Halman and Raktsey Karpo were Niacin (2.4 and 1.6 mg/100 g); Pantothenic acid (2.1 and 0.6 mcg/100 g); Vitamin B-6 (0.2 and 1.1 mg/100 g); Vitamin C (21 and 26.4 mg/100 g); Vitamin E (4.1 and 3.1 mg/100 g), respectively. Mineral composition of Halman and Raktsey Karpo were Potassium (4190 and 4800); Sodium (11.7 and 15.2); Calcium (228.7 and 126.2); Magnesium (115 and 33.8); Phosphorous (323 and 270); Iron (13 and 8.9); Zinc (1.3 and 1.4); Selenium (0.08 and 0.08); Manganese (0.52 and 0.51) mg per kg of fresh weight, respectively. The results presented in this work suggest that the two popular cultivars of trans-Himalayan Ladakh region are significantly different than the apricot cultivars reported in the literature. Efforts are needed to protect the popular cultivars as geographical indication.