SOME QUALITY PROPERTIES OF THREE SWEET CHERRY (PRUNUS AVIUM L.) CULTIVARS DURING SHELF LIFE

Some quality properties (stem rupture force, firmness, tensile strength and penetration depth, total soluble solids and percentage of decayed fruit) of three cherry cultivars ("Van", "Bing" and "0900 Ziraat") during shelf life were investigated. The cherries were kept at 20 +/- 1 degrees C and 60 +/- 5% relative humidity for 7 days and quality changes in the fruit were determined at one day intervals. Stem rupture force and firmness varied among cultivars, "Van" being the best, followed by "Bing" and "0900 Ziraat" cultivars. The highest TSS content of the fruit was obtained from "0900 Ziraat" (14.62%); "Van" and "Bing" were 13.00% and 12.39%, respectively. At the end of the study, the lowest TSS content was obtained from "Bing" and the highest from "0900 Ziraat". The highest initial tensile strength was 1.024 MPa for "Van" at harvest. However, this cultivar had the lowest tensile strength (0.171 MPa) on the 711, day. The "0900 Ziraat" cv. had the lowest percentage of decayed fruit (8.38%) and had better quality results than the other cultivars under shelf life conditions.