Assessment of Nutritional, Technological, and Commercial Apricot Quality Criteria of the Moroccan Cultivar “Maoui” Compared to Introduced Spanish Cultivars “Canino” and “Delpatriarca” towards Suitable Valorization

Abstract

Apricot is among the most important fruits in Morocco. This study aimed to determine the main physical, physicochemical, and biochemical quality criteria of three principal apricot cultivars in Morocco, namely, “Maoui,” “Canino,” and “Delpatriarca.” Different physicochemical and biochemical methods have been improved and adapted for the assessment of the apricot’s quality. Fruit of “Canino” has shown a good organoleptic quality due to interesting biometrics, richness of carotenoids (up to 113.67 μg of β-carotene g−1 of fresh weight (FW)), and an important content of soluble solids (SS) that reached 17.20 °Bx. “Delpatriarca” is rich in organic acids (27.35 g/kg FW for total acids) while “Maoui” has high water content (83.77%) and a SS content of 16.03 °Bx. The association of the total acidity and soluble solids determination with the use of the HPLC for determining the organic acids was very practical and effective in determining the organoleptic quality of the fruit. High correlations were detected between several attributes. In addition, an important relationship between total carotenoids concentration and color parameters (L $\ast$ a $\ast$ b $\ast$ ) demonstrated that these parameters are good for apricot quality and ripening indices. The obtained results also revealed the presence of a high variability among the quality criteria of the three apricot cultivars. These characteristics could be useful for promoting the consumption of the “Maoui” as fresh fruits and the use of “Canino” and “Delpatriarca” for industry derivatives products. The results could also be useful for new apricot breeding program among different eco-geographical groups of the Mediterranean region.