Aroma peculiarities of apricot (Armeniaca vulgaris Lam.) and cherry-plum (Prunus cerasifera Ehrh.) flowers

In the component composition of volatile solutions determining fragrance of the flowers in apricot and cherry-plum varieties and Prunus brigantiaca Vill. x Armeniaca vulgaris Lam. hybrids there are 36 highest hydrocarbons and benzaldehyde that prevail. There are fewer amounts of the solutions which scare bees (benzaldehyde) in the fragrance of cherry-plum varieties as compared to the flowers of apricot and hybrids. At the same time, the content of tricosane, pentacosane, docosane, heneycosane, eicosane, nonadecan that probably attract bees is higher in the cherry-plum flowers than in the fragrance of apricot and hybrid flowers. The average three years yield of cherry-plum plants (Nikitska Zhovta 10,7 and Salgirskaya Rumjanaya 28,5 t/ ha) is higher than for apricot (Recolte de Schatene 0,3; Rodnik 2,9; Ananasniy Tsurupinsky 7,4 t/ha) and hybrids (8110 – 5,2; 8098 – 6,4 t/ha) that could be explained with better pollination of flowers and better fruit formation. Prevailing components of flower aroma of these plants and their possible link with yield of the objects in questions have been analyzed.