IAM Pannonian Apricot Pages

Apricots belong to the family Rosaceae, genus Prunus L., section Armeniaca (Lam.) Koch (Rehder 1940), which includes eight different species: P. ansu Maxima.; P. armeniaca L.; P. brigantiaca Vill. (Alpine apricot); P. mandshurica (Maxima.) Koehne; P. x dasycarpa Ehrh.; P. holosericea (Batal) Kost. (Tibetian apricot); P. mume (Sieb.) Sieb. et Zucc. and P. siberica L. All are interfertile diploid species with eight pairs of chromosome (OECD 2002).

Apricots are grown in temperate and subtropical zones world-wide being the third economically most important stone fruit crops after peach and plum (OECD 2002). The main apricot growing areas are China, the Irano-Caucasian region (Turkey and Iran with 22.6% of the world production), Central Asia, Europe and North America (FaostAt 2004), which represent different eco-geographical groups.

The Central-Asian group is the oldest group with the richest variation. Most of the cultivars are self-incompatible; fruits are small to medium and ripen over a long period. The Irano-Caucasian group is mostly self-incompatible, produces larger fruit than the Central Asian group and shows lower chilling requirements.
The European and the North American groups are the youngest with the lowest variation, probably originating from a few Asian ancestors (Zohary and Spiegel Roy 1975). Domestication of this fruit tree led to a decrease in variability in the European cultivars, which are mostly self–compatible, show lower chilling requirements and only a short ripening time (Mehlenbacher et al. 1991).