Quality of peach fruits Jarillo cv. (Prunus persica L.) in Pamplona, Colombia

Abstract The aim of this study was to characterize the quality of peach fruits Jarillo cv., produced under the conditions of altitude tropical climate in three locations: Pamplona, Chitagá and Pamplonita, in Northern Santander, Colombia. Ten trees were sampled by the conditioned latin hypercube method and eight growing fruits with physiological state of maturity were selected. By means of a profile analysis, the hypotheses of parallelism, coincidence and horizontality of quality variables in the complete measurement interval were tested, and in some segments of the interval, some patterns from the graphic point of view were found. A radial diagram was made to study the development of fruit color at each thermal level. When the quotient between longitudinal diameter and equatorial diameter tends to 1 to the left, the highest weight values are reached, highlighting the lowest elevation level, with weights around 150 g. The profile analysis showed, regarding quality variables, that there was a significant interaction between evaluation time and altitude level. The results show that the prevailing climatic conditions affect the physicochemical characteristics of fruits during the growth process until maturation.