Assessment and examination of mineral elements in apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) cultivars: A special attention to selenium and other essential elements

The climatic of some regions of Hungary provide great opportunity for apricot cultivation. A majority of apricot fruit is harvested in the northern part of the country. The most important traditional cultivars include ‘Gonci magyar kajszi’, ‘Cegledi orias’ and ‘Bergeron’. The element content of six different apricot cultivars (‘Goldrich’, ‘Cegledi orias’, ‘Aurora’, ‘Gonci Magyar kajszi’, ‘Magyar kajszi C.235’ and ‘Orange Red’) was examined in this study. The total element content was measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). Selenium content was determined by polarography. From geographical point of view there is a wide variation in the selenium content of fruits. Apricot cultivars show great variations in element contents. It was determined that apricot contains a low quantity from most elements and daily requirements may not be covered by consumption of 300 g fresh apricot. Although they might be good sources of some essential elements. On the basis of RDA and DRI each examined apricot cultivar proved to be a good source of potassium; ‘Gonci Magyar kajszi’ and ‘Cegledi orias’ for manganese, ‘Aurora’ for manganese, potassium and copper. ‘Aurora’ fruits contain the most appreciable element concentrations (Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na and S). An excellent content of potassium (ranged from 2127 to 4175 mg kg-1 fresh weight) was observed in fruits of all tested cultivars. Although non-essential elements such as B and Al were also present in multiple DRI quantities in samples.