Evaluation of Nutritional Components in Edible Parts of Different Geographical Provenances of Aspidopterys concava

The study determined the leaf nutrients and chemical components of 6 provenances(Jingxi, Longzhou, Daxin, Chongzuo, Pingguo and Dahua) of Aspidopterys concava to identify geographical provenances with high nutritional value and suitability for introduction to Nanning. The indexes were analyzed by descriptive statistics, variance analysis, multiple comparison, correlation analysis, principal component analysis and cluster analysis. The findings indicated significant differences in the content of all kinds of nutrients and chemical components among 6 A. concava provenances, which were related to geographical location and climatic factors. There were 7 kinds of essential amino acids and 9 kinds of non-essential amino acids in leaves of all provenances, among which Jingxi and Dahua had the highest amino acid contents. There was no significant correlation between the contents of most nutrients and chemical components. Still, there was a correlation between essential and non-essential amino acids, and the contents of taste and pharmacodynamic amino acids were mostly positively correlated. Four principal components could be extracted from 24 indexes, and the cumulative contribution rate was 96.048%. Among all provenances, Jingxi provenance had the highest content of comprehensive nutrients, followed by Dahua provenance, and Longzhou provenance had the worst comprehensive nutrient contents. The 6 geographical provenances were divided into 3 categories by cluster analysis. The sugar content of Longzhou and Chongzuo is high. Daxin and Pingguo have high content of total flavonoids and cellulose. Jingxi and Dahua showed the best overall performance and medicinal ingredients content were high, it could be introduced as medicinal germplasm resources in Nanning.