The objective this research was to evaluate the post harvest 'Aurora-1' peaches quality, budded on four rootstocks ('Okinawa' propagated by seeds and herbaceous cuttings, Clone 15 and 'Rigitano' mume propagated by herbaceous cuttings), cultivated in three spacing: 6 x 2 m, 6 x 3 m and 6 x 4 m. Fruits harvest was realized in 2005, based on peel colors, which is the demand for in natura commercialization, corresponding to the maturation indexes. Fruit physical attributes like fruit fresh weight, longitudinal and equatorial diameter, firmness, external and internal color and chemical evaluations (soluble solids, acidity contents and ratio) were analyzed. Through the obtained data, it was verified that rootstocks and tree spacing did not influence the external color, hue and internal lightness mesocarp, the firmness and acidity contents of 'Aurora-1' peaches. The highest fruit fresh weight, longitudinal and equatorial diameters were obtained on Clone 15 and 'Rigitano' mume rootstock. 'Aurora-1' peach trees budded on Clone 15 mume rootstocks have got the highest soluble solids contents and ratio than 'Okinawa' propagated by herbaceous cuttings. 'Aurora-1' peach trees cultivated in 6 x 4 m space produced shorter fruits, but with the highest soluble solids contents and ratio.
Prunus persica; Prunus mume; rootstocks; chemical composition
