Abstract: Four major Japanese apricot cultivars named ‘Qingzhumei’, ‘Longyanmei’, ‘Hangmei’ and ‘Baifenmei’ in Fujian province were measured for fruit traits such as individual fruit mass and fruit dimension as well as nutrient components such as vitamin C (VC), total phenolics, flavonoids, soluble sugars, organic acids, aroma compounds and mineral elements. The results indicated that a significant difference in the contents of VC, total phenolics, flavonoids, soluble sugars, organic acids, aroma components and mineral elements existed among the four cultivars. Sucrose followed by glucose and fructose was the predominant sugar in Japanese apricot fruit. The major organic acid was citric acid, followed by malic acid, succinic acid, acetic acid and quinic acid. In total, 110 aroma components were detected in the four cultivars, including 30 esters, 26 alcohols, 17 aldehydes, 15 ketones, 7 acids, and 15 other substances, 26 of which were common to all cultivars. 2-Heptenal, hexanal, hexanol and trans-ocimenol were the major aroma substances in these cultivars. K, Ca and Se were abundant in all cultivars. The results of principal component analysis (PCA) showed that ‘Qingzhumei’ had the highest comprehensive score, which exhibited the highest total concentration of aroma compounds and the best overall quality. ‘Qingzhumei’ was suggested to be a good breeding material. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for determining the nutritional value of Japanese apricot fruit, breeding superior cultivars and rational processing and utilization of Japanese apricot fruit.

Key words: Japanese apricot; soluble sugar; organic acid; aroma components; mineral element