The intra-fruit texture heterogeneity in fresh apricot fruit, the cell wall of the different tissue zones and those of cooked fruit were analysed in order to investigate the implication of cell wall in apricot texture. Firmness decreased gradually from the external to the internal tissue while from the peduncle to the pistil zone, the highest value in firmness was recorded in the peduncle zone, followed by the pistil zone and finally the equatorial zone. Texture was strongly correlated with water-soluble pectin (WSP), firmness being inversely proportional to WSP contents of the different tissue zones. CDTA-soluble pectin (CSP) underwent noticeable variation between tissues but no clear relationship was observed with firmness. Hemicelluloses extracted together with WSP also appeared to be implicated in tissue texture; highly positive correlation coefficients were observed between firmness and hemicellulosic sugars. After cooking, CSP was the only class of pectin which underwent substantial degradation, indicating that CSP was the pectin fraction most implicated in heat-induced softening in apricot fruit.