Analysis on Fruit Quality of Different Varieties of Prunus mume in Sichuan

To compare the quality differences of Prunus mume from main producing areas of Sichuan Province, related basic physio-chemical properties, trace elements, total flavonoids, total phenols and organic acids contents were determined. Furthermore, the volatile flavor components of Prunus mume were analyzed by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Additionally, principal component and cluster analysis were applied to compare and sort the 8 varieties of Prunus mume samples based on the quality data. The results revealed significant differences in the fruit quality of 8 cultivars of Prunus mume. Among them, the single fruit weight of Damei No.1, Pingwu Nangao and Mabian Dabaimei was more than 30 g, and the flesh rate was more than 90%, which belonged to the extremely large fruit in Prunus mume, the maximum protein content of Damei No.2 was 1.24 g/100 g FW, the sugar acid ratio of 8 varieties of Prunus mume was 0.25~0.58, the content of Fe in Dayi Daqingmei was the highest, which was 187.28 mg/kg DW. The five varieties of Prunus mume in Dachuan, Dayi and Mabian had higher content of Se, with an average content of 0.28 mg/kg DW. The contents of total flavonoids and total phenols in Dayi Yingsu were the highest, which were 84.53 and 36.03 mg/g DW, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of other varieties (P<0.05). The highest citric acid content of Dayi Daqingmei was 414.23 mg/g, and the highest malic acid content of Pingwu apricot was 85.51 mg/g. The contents of high succinic acid and fumaric acid in Pingwu Nangao were the highest, which were 54.15 and 0.79 mg/g DW, respectively. A total of 81 volatile substances were detected in 8 varieties of Prunus mume, and 9 common substances were detected. Among them, Yingsu and Nangao had the highest proportion of aldehydes, mainly hexanal and 2-hexenal, while the other six varieties of Prunus mume had the highest proportion of esters, especially butyl acetate. In summary, the four varieties of Prunus mume in Mabian County and Pingwu County were suitable for making Fructus mume. Dayi Yingsu, Dayi Daqingmei and Damei No.2 were suitable for deep processing, and Damei No.1 was an excellent variety for edible processing.