Comparative responses of fruit quality attributes, mineral nutrients, and targeted metabolites in fruit of early- to mid-season apple cultivars at harvest

New apple cultivars develop to satisfy the market demand and extend the apple consumption. However, the comparisons of seasonal and cultivar-dependent studies remain limited. This study investigated the overall fruit quality attributes, mineral nutrients, and targeted metabolites of nine apple cultivars harvested from late July to mid-September. Significant variations in fruit attributes, such as fruit fresh weight, firmness, soluble solids content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), peel hue angle value, and starch pattern index were observed with harvest season. Early-season cultivars, such as ‘Summer King’, exhibited higher TA, malic acid, and amino acids, while mid-season cultivars like ‘Arisoo’ and ‘Picnic’ had higher levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Metabolomic profiling revealed that early-season apples, which were less mature, contained higher levels of organic acids and phenolic compounds, while mid-season apples had greater VOC accumulation. Seasonal apples, which can provide early-season apples, may exhibit different maturation and ripening processes compared to mid-season cultivars. The results indicated that targeted metabolites, fruit quality attributes, and mineral nutrients could respond differently to the fruit harvest season from early to mid-season cultivars at harvest.