Characterization of quercetin and its glycoside derivatives in Malus germplasm

Quercetin and its glycoside derivatives were identified and quantified using high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) and liquid chromatograph/mass spectrometer/mass spectrometer (LC/MS/MS) in the leaves, flowers, and fruits of 22 Malus genotypes. In all genotypes, small amounts of quercetin aglycone were present, with water-soluble glycoside forms were the most abundant in different Malus plant tissues, including quercetin-3-galactoside, quercetin-3-rutinoside, quercetin-3-glucoside, quercetin-3-xyloside, quercetin-3-arabinoside, and quercetin-3-rhamnoside. Among these six quercetin glycosides, quercetin-3-galactoside was the common form in Malus plants, except in the leaves and flowers of M. ceracifolia and M. magdeburgensis , and in the fruits of M. micromalus ‘Haihong Fruit’, where there was a higher concentration of quercetin-3-glucoside. Among the different tissues tested, leaves contained the highest concentration of quercetin and its glycosides, while fruits contained the lowest concentrations of these compounds. Among the genotypes we analyzed, no specific genotype consistently contained the highest concentration of quercetin and its glycoside derivatives. M. domestica ‘Honeycrisp’ had the highest total compound concentration (approximately 1600 mg kg −1 ), whereas M. hupehensis contained the lowest in its fruits. In contrast, the concentration of total quercetin and its glycosides was more than 5000 mg kg −1 in the leaves of eight genotypes and greater than 2500 mg kg −1 in the flowers of seven species. In general, the concentration of quercetin and its glycoside derivatives depended on the species and tissue type. These results may provide useful information for the evaluation and selection of edible Malus fruits and the materials for quercetin glycoside extraction.