KINETICS OF APRICOT FRUIT ETHYLENE PRODUCTION IN THE ORCHARD AND POST-HARVEST: A MATHEMATICAL MODELLING APPROACH

Ethylene production of apricot cultivars expressing a wide variability in ripening duration was studied during ripening on the tree and during post-harvest in air at 23°C. Regression equations were set up to predict ethylene production, expressed as neperian logarithm, from the sum of degree-days from flowering. The same equations fitted all the studied cultivars.