Elemental composition of various peach cultivars

A comparative study on elemental composition of various peach cultivars was implemented to see whether a single set of sufficiency ranges might be used for all the cultivars. For this purpose, concentrations of the elements (N, P, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni, Co and Ph) were determined in the leaf and fruit parts of peach cultivars, Redhaven, Glohaven and J.H. Hale. The mean concentrations of N, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cr were found to be statistically different in the leaves depending on the cultivars. However, the differences were not large. Concentrations of the elements in the component parts of the fruit namely flesh and peel were similar in all the cultivars, except Co and Ph in the flesh, Fe in the peel. In spite of the differences found among the some elements, in the leaves of the cultivars, the concentration of these elements were near to each other. Therefore, it may be suggested that interpretation of the leaf and fruit analysis results from the different peach cultivars can be made by comparing to a single set of critical values or sufficiency ranges. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.