Nutritional attributes of traditional and commercial apple cultivars growing in West Himalaya, India

Abstract

Apple is a deciduous fruit crop commonly grown worldwide in temperate regions, however, systematic exploration of apple cultivars growing in the Indian Himalayan landscape is poorly known. Therefore, present attempts focused on enumerating the nutritional attributes of traditional and commercial apple cultivars growing in major fruit belts of Uttarakhand. A varied range of carbohydrates (1.56–6.58 mg/g), proteins (0.64–3.29 mg/g), iron (2.50–12.33 ppb), manganese (0.06–3.59 ppb), chromium (0.12–0.90 ppb), copper (0.13–0.54 ppb), sodium (0.29–1.93 ppb) and potassium (7.35–28.35 ppb) fresh weight, respectively were recorded. The outcomes of the present study indicate that traditional and commercial apple cultivars growing (> 2200 m asl) in mid to higher altitude regions, namely Khabrar, Satbunga, Mukhwa were good sources of various nutritional constituents. Among cultivars, Rymer, Red Delicious emerged as an affluent source of mineral-nutritional contents, therefore, food industries should use these cultivars for the preparation of nutritional products, which will help reduce the deficiency of malnutrition. Outcomes will be useful for the horticulture department and breeders who are looking for the most promising apple cultivars. Their large-scale cultivation in the Himalayan landscape will benefit the production of fruits, conservation of traditional and commercial apple cultivars, and generate employment opportunities for mountainous communities of Himalaya.