Hungarian best

Hungarian Best, popularly known as Mađarica is a very old and globally popular apricot variety originating from Hungary, where it was selected as early as the 19th century. Due to its exceptional and unsurpassed flesh quality, luxurious aroma, and high technological value of the fruit, it has for decades represented the absolute pomological standard and the most widely grown and economically most important apricot variety throughout the Balkans and in our region.

It is a fully self-fertile variety. It is characterized by outstanding and stable fruit set with its own pollen, so it bears reliably and abundantly even when planted in pure single-variety orchards without other accompanying varieties. Due to its abundant flowering and exceptionally high-quality pollen, Hungarian Best is a premium universal pollinator for all other cross-pollinated apricot varieties that flower at the same time. It flowers medium-early.

The tree is moderately vigorous to vigorous, with a semi-spreading, broad-rounded, and moderately dense canopy supported by strong scaffold branches. It enters the fruiting stage early, usually in the third or fourth year after planting. When spring weather conditions allow it, with no late frosts, it produces regular, stable, extremely abundant, and record-breaking yields. It requires proper summer and winter pruning in order to control vigor, improve light penetration inside the canopy, and continuously renew fruiting wood, especially mixed fruiting shoots.

It belongs to the group of medium-early summer apricot varieties. In our region and under continental climatic conditions, it ripens in early July, under Serbian conditions usually between July 1 and 10.

Harvesting is carried out selectively and in several passes during the first half of July. The fruit must be picked carefully at the stage of technological maturity, because at full maturity the flesh softens rapidly and becomes sensitive to finger pressure and transport.

Its fresh-storage ability is moderate. In cold storage, it can be successfully kept for 5–7 days. Due to its optimal sugar-acid balance, high dry matter content, and luxurious aroma, it is absolutely the best and most sought-after variety for processing in the Balkans. It is used to distill the famous and highly valued premium-quality apricot brandy, while it is also the number one variety for the production of premium jams, marmalades, thick fruit preserves, and compotes. It is also highly valued for fresh table consumption.

The fruit is large, with an average weight of 45–55 g, and with excellent thinning it can reach over 65 g. It is uniform on the tree and recognizable by its roundish-oval to slightly flattened shape. The skin is medium-thick, matte, smooth, and intense orange in ground color, with the sun-exposed side covered by an attractive bright red blush and small dots, reaching up to 40% of the surface on well-exposed fruit. The flesh is dark orange, firm, compact, fleshy, exceptionally juicy, and melting. The taste is outstanding, rich, full, and perfectly balanced between sweetness and refreshing acidity, with a strong and noble aroma of true traditional apricot. The stone is medium-sized. It belongs to the group of true freestone apricots: the flesh separates from the stone completely easily, smoothly, and cleanly, while the kernel inside the stone is distinctly bitter and not edible.

It belongs to the group of varieties more sensitive to external factors. It is highly susceptible to apoplexy, or premature tree decline, caused by a complex of pathogens and stress factors, which is its greatest cultivation drawback in the field. In addition, due to its shorter winter dormancy, it starts vegetation early, so its flower buds and flowers are highly sensitive to late spring frosts. It requires mandatory and regular preventive chemical protection against Monilinia blossom and fruit rot, Monilinia laxa, as well as against early spring twig dieback. It shows excellent resistance of the wood to harsh winter frosts during full dormancy.

Our apricot fruit trees are produced exclusively at a high professional level, following the principles of modern agricultural science: by grafting at a height of 60 to 90 cm using an interstock, namely the plum varieties Čačanska Lepotica or White Plum, on the standard rootstock Myrobalan plum, Prunus cerasifera. This high-grafting system through a compatible interstock ensures a perfect graft union, drastically reduces the risk of apoplexy, or tree decline, and significantly delays the start of vegetation in spring, thereby protecting the flowers from late frosts.