Abstract:

The relationships of carbohydrate，mineral content and reactive oxygen species metabolism and watercore occurred of Fuji apple from Aksu，Xinjiang were investigated. The results showed that the watercore incidence positively correlated with soluble solids content（P < 0.05），but it did not show significant correlation with fruit weight，aspect ratio，L value，b* value，h° value. Furthermore，higher sorbitol，sucrose and lower fructose，glucose concentrations were found in watercore fruits and tissues，especially for sorbitol，which is 2.19 times and 2.86 times of watercore-free fruits and tissues respectively. Moreover，higher accumulation of K and B and lower content of Ca，Zn and Fe were involved with watercore incidence. Meanwhile，in the watercored fruit and tissue，superoxide radical and H2O2 content were significantly higher than those in watercore-free apples，which were 282.39%，68.17% and 12.6%，107.62% higher for fruits and tissues，respectively. POD，SOD and CAT activities were significantly decreased in watercore fruits and tissues. MDA content and relative electrolytic conductivity weresignificantly increased，indicating the serious membrane peroxidation.

Key words: apple, watercore, carbohydrate, mineral element, reactive oxygen species