Assessment of nutritional parameters of native apple cultivars as new gene sources

Abstract

Although there are tens of different apple varieties in Europe, only some of them were purposefully bred and selected in the past. In spite of the fact that they can have outstanding nutritional and technological properties, the majority of them are of only a local importance. The objective of this study was to show and popularize altogether 35 local apple varieties which are typical of the conditions of Central Europe. However, their genetic uniqueness represents an irreplaceable ecological wealth and for that reason these local varieties could become a new and outstanding source of nutrients and food. Today, they can be used not only for direct consumption and in food industry but also as a potential material for further breeding and selection. It was found out in our experiments that the highest content of total acids was shown by the variety ’Citronové zimní’ (6.1 g.kg−1 of fresh matter). As far as the content of pectins was concerned, the highest levels were found out in the variety ’Strymka’ (3.26% in fresh matter). Of minerals, potassium showed the highest levels in fruit; for example, the variety ’Boikovo’ contained 9.70 ppm of this element in dry matter. Peels showed approximately 7 times higher antioxidant capacity than the flesh. For example, peels of the variety ’Bernské růžové’ showed antioxidant capacity of as much as 56.65 mmol of trolox per kg of fresh matter. This paper should contribute to efforts focused on saving of genetic variability of apples and their further application both in human nutrition and a further breeding and selection under conditions of pomological and alimentary practice.