Mineral contents in the skin and flesh of fruits of apple cultivars

Abstract Apple is considered a functional food, since it presents considerable contribution in the supply of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and its consumption is related to the prevention of various diseases. However, most cultivars released in recent years have been poorly studied regarding their nutritional properties. The aim of this work was to quantify mineral contents in the skin and flesh, of apple cultivars with potential production in southern Brazil. The apple cultivars evaluated were ‘Fuji Suprema’, ‘Castel Gala’, ‘Lisgala’, ‘Monalisa’, ‘Luiza’, ‘Daiane’, ‘Venice’, ‘Elenise’ and M.10-09 advanced selection, in the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 seasons. Among evaluated minerals, considering consumption of a fruit of 115 g with skin (except carpel and seeds), potassium supplies high percentage of recommended daily intake, followed by phosphorus and magnesium. The calcium content in apples presents low contribution to the recommended daily intake. Due to the higher concentrations of minerals in skin in comparison to flesh, the consumption of whole fruit increases the percentage of minerals ingested. In addition, the evaluated minerals showed significant differences as a function of cultivar. ‘Monalisa’ cultivar, in the flesh portion, stood out due to the high phosphorus and calcium content, 204.1 and 36.5 mg kg-1 (2017/2018) and 305.6 and 43.8 mg kg-1 (2018/2019), respectively. ‘Fuji Suprema’, in both harvest seasons, stood out due to the high potassium contents in skin (1073.8 mg kg-1) and flesh (1223.7 mg kg-1) in 2017/2018 and in flesh (1547.3 mg kg-1) in 2018/2019 and magnesium in flesh (122.4 mg kg-1) in 2017/2018 and in skin (231.2 mg kg-1) and flesh (62.4 mg kg-1) in 2018/2019.