Vitamin C Levels in Apples
| figures show vitamin C in mg per 100 grams apple## |
EXPERIMENTAL METHOD |
||||||
| under- ripe |
slightly under- ripe | fresh off the tree |
fairly fresh | past its best |
old but edible | APPLE SOURCE |
|
| DESSERTS/ COOKERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| LANGTON'S NONESUCH | 24.0 | Leics 12 | |||||
| SAM BELL* | 20.8 | Leics 12 | |||||
| MM106 | 16.7 . . |
15.8 . 9.0 |
12.4 11.7 . |
13.5 . . |
6.3 . . |
Leics 04 Leics 04 Leics 06 |
|
| PINK PEARL | . | . | 15.5 | . | . | . | Leics 11 |
| BRAMLEY | . |
. | 15.1 . |
11.3 12.1 |
10.8 . |
10.4 . |
Leics 04 Leics 06 |
| BRAMLEY (CRIMSON) | 8.6 | Wye 04 | |||||
| STURMER PIPPIN | 5.5 | 16.2 | 8.3 | NFC 04 | |||
| RIBSTON PIPPIN | 13.5 | 4.7 | 2.6 | 3.3 | Leics 04 | ||
| GOLDEN NOBLE | . 16.8 |
12.2 . |
. . |
. . |
17.6 . |
Leics 04 Leics 08 |
|
| ALLEN'S EVERLASTING | . | 10.0 . . . |
6.4 . . 10.4 |
5.3 2.8 7.6 . |
3.1 . . . |
2.6 . . . |
Leics 04 NFC 04 Leics 06 Leics 11 |
| BLENHEIM ORANGE | . | . | 10.1 | . | . | . | Leics 11 |
| ROTER MOND | 10.0 | Leics 12 | |||||
| BREUNSDORFER | 9.4 | Leics 12 | |||||
| COX's ORANGE PIPPIN | . |
. | . . 9.0 |
7.4 . . |
2.3 5.5 . |
Sand 04 Leics 04 Nicholson |
|
| WEIROUGE | . | . | . | . | 8.6 | . | Leics 11 |
| CORNISH AROMATIC | . |
. | . | . | 7.1 | 5.2 | Leics 04 |
| BLACKJACK | . | . | 7.4 | . | . | . | Leics 11 |
| TYDEMAN'S LATE ORANGE | . | . | . | 5.6 | . | . | Leics 11 |
| LAXTON'S FORTUNE | 7.5 | 5.1 | 3.6 | 4.2 | Leics 04 | ||
| D'ARCY SPICE | 6.6 | 3.6 | 2.1 | 2.1 | Leics 04 | ||
| ALLINGTON PIPPIN | 6.6 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 2.3 | Leics 04 | ||
| HIDDEN ROSE | . | . | 5.1 | . | . | . | Leics 11 |
| RED DEVIL | 2.7 f | 6.4 | Leics 04 | ||||
| MAY QUEEN | 3.8 | 5.8 | 3.9 | 2.9 | Leics 04 | ||
| #CROFT LATE SEEDLING* | 1.3 | 1.6 | 4.2 | 5.0 | Leics 04 | ||
| ANNIE ELIZABETH | 7.7 | NFC 04 | |||||
| BURFORD'S REDFLESH | . | . | . | 5.1 | . | . | Leics 11 |
| MARGIL | 4.2 | NFC 04 | |||||
| WEST VIRGINIA SWEET | . | . | 4.0 | . | . | Leics 11 | |
| BELLE DE BOSKOOP | . | . | . | 3.7 | . | . | Goslar, 11 |
| WHITWICK PIPPIN | . | . | 3.6 | . | . | Leics 06 | |
| MARTIN'S COSTARD | . | . | 3.5 | . | . | Leics 08 | |
| RUBINETT | . | . | 3.5 | . | . | Goslar 11 | |
| GEORGE'S RED | . | . | 2.9 | . | . | Leics 08 | |
| HALL'S PINK | . | . | . | . | 3.6 | . | Leics 11 |
| DUMELOW'S SEEDLING | 3.4 | Leics 04 | |||||
| KING EDWARD VII | 1.2 | 3.3 | 5.6 | Leics 04 | |||
| PITMASTON PINEAPPLE | 2.6 | 2.7 | 3.1 | Wye 04 | |||
| PINK PEARMAIN | . | . | . | 2.6 | . | . | Leics 11 |
| WEBSTER PINKMEAT | . | . | 2.6 | . | . | . | Leics 11 |
| MOTT'S PINK | . | . | . | . | 2.4 | . | Leics 11 |
| LORD BURGHLEY | . | . | . | 2.5 | . | 2.2 | Wye 04 |
| CLAYGATE PEARMAIN | 3.4 2.1 |
1.4 . |
1.1 . |
1.3 . |
Leics 04 Leics 06 |
||
| GOLDEN DELICIOUS | . 4.0 | 1.0 . | Leics 04 Nicholson |
||||
| DEVONSHIRE QUARRENDEN | . . |
. . |
2.1 f 1.4 |
. . |
. . |
. . |
Leics 04 Leics 08 |
| TOM PUTT | 1.0 | Leics 04 | |||||
| NUTMEG PIPPIN | . | . | . | 1.6 | . | . | Wye 04 |
| WYKEN PIPPIN | 1.4 | NFC 04 | |||||
| CROFT PIPPIN (CHAPMAN'S COLOSSUS) | 1.4 | Leics 06 | |||||
| ASHMEAD'S KERNEL | . | . | . | 1.4 | . | . | NFC 04 |
| LAXTON'S SUPERB | . | . | . | 1.4 | 3.4 | . | Wye 04 |
| SPARTAN | . | . | . | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.2 | Wye 04 |
| EGREMONT RUSSET | . | . | . | 1.0 | . | . | Wye 04 |
| AUTUMN PERMAIN | . | . | . | 1.0 | . | 1.5 | Wye 04 |
| MERTON KNAVE | . | . | 1.3 f | . | . | . | Leics 04 |
| . | . | . | . | . | . | . | |
| SHOP-BOUGHT | |||||||
| BRAEBURN New Zealand | 5.3 | Dec 04 | |||||
| COX ORANGE Foreign, unspecified | 2.6 2.7 s | Nov 04 | |||||
| RED DELICIOUS American, waxed | 1.4 1.4 s | Dec 04 | |||||
| . | |||||||
| CIDER APPLES | |||||||
| #CROFT SHARP | 5.5 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 1.6 | Leics 04 | ||
| MICHELIN | 2.8 | 1.4 | 2.0 | Devon 04 | |||
| ELLIS BITTERS | 1.0 | 2.2 | Devon 04 | ||||
| DABINETT | 1.3 | . | . | 3.0 | Devon 04 | ||
| . | . | . | |||||
| CRABS | |||||||
| #GOLDEN HORNET seedling | 2.0 | . | . | 2.2 | Leics 04 | ||
APPLES FROM GOTTINGEN | |||||||
| #BEINRODE seedling |
. | . | 10.1 | . | . | . | Gott 11 |
| #GOLDEN APPLE seedling |
. | . | 3.5 | . | . | . | Gott 11 |
| #BLACKFLESH seedling |
. | . | 3.2 | . | . | . | Gott 11 |
##These figures are for apples with skin but excluding the
core. In our samples the core was about 4% of the apples' mass.
*I originally believed one of my trees to be ANNIE ELIZABETH but the apples, although similar, are harder than those in the Brogdale collection, hang later on the tree, and are smaller. We have therefore named this apple CROFT LATE SEEDLING in the table. Brogdale's tree is on M9; mine is on M26. -N.D.
KEY TO LOCATIONS
Devon = a cider farm outside Okehampton
Leics = Croft, Leicestershire
NFC = National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, Kent, courtesy of Emma-Jane Lamont
Sand = Sandringham, Norfolk
Wye = Perry Court Farm, near Wye, Kent
Goslar = Goslar, West Germany
Gott = Gottingen, West Germany
OTHER ABBREVIATIONS
# = not in National Fruit Collection
f = apple deep-frozen when fresh and analysed later
s = skin only
Nicholson - reference to a vitamin C determination by
Nicholson, in Hort. Rev. 27, 2001, Wiley, p.272. He does not quote
the ripeness of the fruit but we have assumed peak condition (3).
The earlier analyses were carried out for the National Fruit Collection. The later ones are being done for the Leicestershire Heritage Apples Project. The information may not be used in commercial publications without written permission.
Nigel Deacon / David Shirley
2005
Updated Nov 2011 & Nov 2012
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To Amelia Summers, for assisting with the 2006 analyses.
To Geoff Smith of Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth College, Leicester,
for loan of equipment.
