Twenty two apple cultivars grown in Himachal Pradesh, India were harvested at commercial maturity and analysed for different physical (fruit weight, fruit dimensions, firmness, color) and nutritional attributes (ascorbic acid, antioxidant activity, total carotenoid, sugars, organic acids, phenolic compounds and minerals). Cultivar 'Oregon Spur II' was found to have maximum fruit size and weight while the least was observed for cultivar 'Starkrimson'. Quantitative differences were found in the nutritional profile among the cultivars with respect to all the above attributes. The ascorbic acid content ranged between 19.38 mg 100 g-1 ('Well Spur') and 32.08 mg 100 g-1 ('Starkrimson') while the antioxidant activity varied between 2.64 μmol Trolox equivalent g-1 ('Granny Smith') and 13.20 μmol Trolox equivalent g-1 ('Silver Spur'). The highest total carotenoid was found in 'Red Chief' (147.06 mg kg-1) while in 'Early Red-I' the total carotenoid was only 29.03 mg kg-1. HPLC analysis for individual sugars, organic acids and phenolic compounds was carried out. Fructose (average 50.79 g L-1) was the most abundant sugar. Malic acid (average 6.03 mg L-1) predominated among the individual organic acids. Potassium (average 795.14 mg 100 g-1) and iron (average 2.04 µg g-1) were the predominant macro and micro elements, respectively. Chlorogenic acid was the major constituent among phenolic compounds.
Keywords: Apple cultivars; Chemical composition; Malic acid; Phenolic compounds.