title: Assessment of calcium and zinc accumulation in cultivated and wild apples.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Apple is one of the staple fruits worldwide which are a good source of mineral nutrients. However, little is known about genetic variation for mineral nutrition in apple germplasm. In this study, the calcium and zinc contents in mature fruits of 378 apple cultivars and 39 wild relatives were assessed. Mineral concentrations were quantified using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both calcium and zinc accumulation showed great variation among accessions tested. Overall, wild fruits were significantly richer in zinc than cultivated fruits, while the average concentration of calcium was similar between cultivated and wild fruits. The difference in zinc concentration between wild and cultivated fruits may be an indirect result of artificial selection on fruit characteristics during apple domestication. Moreover, calcium concentration in fruit showed a decreasing trend throughout fruit development of apple, while zinc concentration in fruit displayed a complex variation pattern in the late stages of fruit development.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The finding of a wild genetic variation for fruit calcium and zinc accumulation in apple germplasm could be helpful for future research on genetic dissection and improvement of calcium and zinc accumulation in apple fruit. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.|Sino-African Joint Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Liao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Baiquan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.|Sino-African Joint Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Xianbao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.|Sino-African Joint Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Yuepeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D027845:Malus / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D009753:Nutritive Value; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015032:Zinc; D002118:Calcium
keywords: FAAS; Malus; fruit characteristics; mineral nutrition