TURKISH DRIED APRICOT

Turkey realizes 82% of the total dried apricot trade of the world.

Harvest, Drying, and Packing of Dried Apricot
Harvest: Harvest time is determined with respect to the type of apricot, the altitude at which it is grown, due to the ripening, the getting yellow of its color, its softening and getting sweet and juicy. The most suitable apricot harvest is made by hand, so the fruits are not damaged during harvest and they are harvested when sufficiently ripe. The other harvest types are that are done by shaking and flapping.
Drying: Apricot is dried for using two different methods, called “Gün kurusu” (natural dry), and “Kükürtleme” (sulfured dry). Sulfuring is useful to shorten the time of the drying process, to preserve the natural color, to prevent the product from getting infested with bugs, and to increase the preservation period. Sulfuring, and the rest accomplish more than 80 % of the total drying efforts by drying in the sun. Spreading the apricot directly on earth, concrete, or cloths does 10 % of the drying processes.
In natural drying, the quality decreases because of the dirt and bruises that the apricots receive. In apricots that are day dried, bugs form a short time after the drying process, but nevertheless, these apricots are very tasteful.
Selecting and Packing: Drying process is made by growers and farmers, and then these raw apricots are sold in the market to intermediaries. These merchants market the apricots to processor and packer companies. Packers companies first wash and fumigate these apricots, then calibrate to 8 different sizes, after these processes, apricots are waited in plastic baskets for 24 hours to absorb the excess water in it. After humidity and SO2 tests, if the product is conformed to official quality standards, handpicked by workers by one by one. All the wounded, damaged, dotted and moldy berries are selected.

Classification of Turkish Dried Apricot
In Turkish Standards- TS 485, all the class and size details can be found. The two important quality criteria of dried apricots with regard to this standard are, moisture and SO2 contents, which should not exceed 25 % and 0,25 % (2500ppm) by weight respectively.
The origin of this fruit is Malatya which is in Eastern Anatolia Region. The variety of Turkish sun dried apricots is Prunus Armeniaca L. and called as "Şekerpare".

The apricots are divided into two groups according to their drying style:
• Sulphured Dried Apricots
• Natural Dried Apricots.

Sulphured Dried Apricots are treated with SO2 in order to provide color retention and longer the shelf life .The color of this type changes from light yellow to orange. The SO2 content is max 2000 ppm for European countries and between 2500-3000 for USA and others. Also if the buyer needs a special content it can be adjusted as well. The color is lighter as the SO2 content increases.
Natural (Unsulphured) Dried Apricots differs from sulphured apricots in color, the color of this type changes from light brown to dark brown this is because these apricots are directly dried under the sunlight without being treated with SO2.
Organic Apricots are grown by certified growers according to the standards of the Organic Agriculture and under the control of the organic certification organization and these apricots contains no chemicals as well as no sulphur.

Classification according to Quality Specifications:
• Extra
• 1.Class
• 2.Class
• Industrial
There are two groups, natural and sulphured and four quality classes, extra, first, second and industrial classes.
In Turkish Standards, the two important quality criteria of dried apricots are, moisture and SO2 contents, which should not exceed 25 % and 0,20 % (2000ppm) by weight respectively.

Sizing of apricots according to pieces in a kg:

Packing: The final outcome is put into generally 5 or 12.5 kg bulk cartons, inside polypropylene, nylon or oil paper. In many of processing and packing houses, retail packs like 200, 250, 400, and 500gr is workable upon requests of buyers, these are white foam trays or clear cello bags.
Packing Types:
12 kg.(1000 g. x 12) in box
12 kg. (800 g. x 15) in box
12 kg. (500 g. x 24) in box
10 kg. (400 g. x 25) in box
10 kg.(250 g. x 40) in box
10 kg. (200 g. x 50) in box

Besides we can offer foam tray, P.P. box and paper box or PVC packing.
Bulk: 5 kg, 10 kg, 12,5 kg carton boxes;
5 kg. bulk in box
12,5 kg. bulk in box
15 kg. bulk in box.
Retail Packing: A wide variety of retail packaging is available to meet your needs; Sealed round trays, cellophane bags, vacuum packs, wooden trays and more.

Health Benefits of Apricot
• Apricot has high mineral content, that makes it beneficial in cases of anemia, tuberculosis, asthma, bronchitis, and toxemia.
• Apricot is high in vitamin A, which is why it is very helpful in the removal of skin pimples and other skin disorder.
• Apricot contains lycopene, this substance can help prevent cancer and help to protect LDL cholesterol from oxidation, which may help prevent heart disease.
• It helps destroy intestinal worms.
• It may help remove gallstones.
• It helps for preventing cancer in organs lined by epithelial tissue, due to its high vitamin A content.
•Dried apricots should be eaten with foods that are rich in Vitamin C so that iron absorption can be increased.

Sun Dried Apricot Specifications