Abstract: In order to elucidate the characteristics of mineral elements in the seed kernels of Chinese chinquapin (Castanea henryi), the contents of nine mineral elements including N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu in 30 major varieties were determined using a discontinuous autoanalyzer and atom absorption spectrometry and they were analyzed by correlation analysis, factor analysis and cluster analysis. The results were showed that the contents of all 9 mineral elements obeyed normal distribution by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The average contents followed the descending order of N (6 873.74 mg/kg) > K (4 402.32 mg/kg) > P (1 619.16 mg/kg) > Ca (471.18 mg/kg)> Mg (394.59 mg/kg) > Mn (115.80 mg/kg) > Fe (16.22 mg/kg) > Zn (8.68 mg/kg) > Cu (7.59 mg/kg). As far as the macroelements were concerned, N, K and P were significantly different from Ca and Mg (P < 0.05); as for the microelements, Mn was significantly different from Fe, Zn and Cu (P < 0.05). The coefficients of variation varied from 8.29% (Zn) to 54.43% (Fe). Correlation analysis showed that there was a complex correlation among these elements. The results of factor analysis showed that N, P, Mn, K, Cu and Fe were the characteristic elements of Chinese chinquapin, and that the cumulative variance contribution rate of six common factors extracted was 90.572%. The cumulative variance contribution rate of the first common factor (F1) was 22.400%, representing N, P and Mn. The cumulative variance contribution rate of the second common factor (F2) was 15.572%, representing K and Cu. The cumulative variance contribution rate of the third common factor (F3) was 14.701%, representing Fe. The cumulative variance contribution rate of the fourth common factor (F4) was 14.614%, representing Mg. The cumulative variance contribution rate of the fifth common factor (F5) was 11.936%, representing Ca. The cumulative variance contribution rate of the sixth common factor (F6) was 11.349%, representing Zn. The top five varieties with the highest synthetic scores were ‘Manzhen’, ‘Changmangzi’, ‘Zhongjianzui’, ‘Caizhen’, ‘Xiaojianzui’. The 30 Chinese chinquapin varieties were classified into 6 groups by cluster analysis. The results of this study can provide basic data for evaluating nutritional properties of Chinese chinquapin, breeding new varieties and developing Chinese chinquapin-based foods.

Key words: Castanea henryi, mineral elements, factor analysis, cluster analysis