Variation in Ascorbic Acid and Oxalate Levels in the Fruit of Actinidia chinensis Tissues and Genotypes

Ascorbic acid and total oxalate were measured in fruit from six genotypes of Actinidia chinensis. Ascorbic acid was separated from oxalate in fruit extracts by HPLC and quantified from absorbance at 245 nm, whereas oxalate was measured enzymatically in the HPLC eluate. Levels of whole fruit mean ascorbic acid in the different genotypes ranged from 98 to 163 mg/100 g of fresh weight (FW), whereas mean oxalate varied between 18 and 45 mg/100 g of FW. Ascorbic acid was highest in the inner and outer pericarp, whereas oxalate was concentrated in the skin, inner pericarp, and seed. Essentially no ascorbic acid was found in the seed. Each tissue clustered separately when the tissue ascorbic acid and oxalate data were normalized to the whole fruit level of ascorbic acid and oxalate in that genotype and plotted against each other, suggesting that oxalate is not a sink for excess ascorbic acid but that oxalate formation is regulated.

Keywords: Kiwifruit; vitamin C; oxalic acid; ascorbate; HPLC