# Effects of Climatic Conditions and Genotypes on Vitamin C Levels in Stone Species and Apple Cultivars

## TL;DR

This study shows how genetic and climate factors affect vitamin C levels in fruits like apples and plums, with some varieties being more stable or responsive to weather.

## Contribution

The study identifies specific genotypes and climatic drivers influencing vitamin C stability in stone fruits and apples.

## Key findings

- Apples and plums showed the highest variability in vitamin C content, with plums being most sensitive to hot and dry conditions.
- Temperature (NTavg-20) strongly influenced vitamin C levels in plums and cherries (R2 = 0.999 and 0.995 respectively).
- Stable accessions like ‘HL96-266’ maintained low vitamin C variance, suggesting value for breeding resilient cultivars.

## Abstract

Genetic and climatic factors influence the nutritional content of fruit, with vitamin C being a key component. Using HPLC, we quantified the amount of vitamin C in cherries, apricots, plums, and apples from 2022 to 2024. Contents ranged from 1.6 to 24.6 mg/100 g fresh weight basis (FW), with apples and plums displaying the highest coefficient of variation (32.53% and 45.25%). The highest content was consistently found in accession ‘HL827’, which exceeded 20 mg/100 g FW. Cherries reached up to 12.1 mg/100 g FW in 2023 (‘13590′), but decreased to 1.9 mg/100 g FW in 2024 (‘Jacinta’). Apricots showed high fluctuation, with ‘Betinka’, ‘Candela’, and ‘HL08-052’ exceeding the 30% variance coefficient. Accessions that remained stable (‘HL96-266’) maintained a low variance only. Plums were the most sensitive, experiencing low vitamin C content under hot and dry conditions. Regression analysis identified temperature (NTavg-20) as the dominant climatic driver in plums and cherries (R2 = 0.999, p < 0.05 and R2 = 0.995, p < 0.05) respectively, whereas apples and apricots showed negligible responses (R2 ≤ 0.210). These findings underscore the importance of genotype/environment interactions at the local level and highlight the value of stable accessions as valuable resources for breeding cultivars with high and resilient vitamin C content.