The impact of Orvasca subnotata Walker damage on the nutritional components and mineral element content of ‘Hass’ Avocado fruits

To clarify the influence of the damage caused by Orvasca subnotata Walker on the nutritional components and mineral elements contents of the avocado Persea americana Miller fruits, providing a theoretical basis for pest control and sustainable development of the avocado industry. Taking the mature 'Hass' avocado fruits as the research object, the nine nutritional components and twelve mineral elements contents of the fruits bitten by O. subnotata and the healthy fruits were determined and analyzed. Results showed that significant differences were found in the nutritional components and mineral elements contents between the pest-damaged fruits and the healthy fruits, and the soluble sugar had a largest decrease value 48.67%. In terms of nutritional components, the contents of soluble sugar, starch, soluble protein, crude fat and total phenol in pest-damaged fruits are significantly lower than those in healthy fruits. In terms of mineral elements, the contents of Ca and Se in pest-damaged fruits are significantly higher than those in healthy fruits, while the contents of S, K, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu and Mo are significantly lower than those in healthy fruits. Correlation analysis shows that due to the damage caused by O. subnotata, the correlation between the nutritional components and mineral elements of avocado fruits has changed significantly. In healthy fruits, S is significantly positively correlated with dry matter content, and Mg is significantly negatively correlated with total phenol content. In pest-damaged fruits, S shows an extremely significant positive correlation with dry matter content, Fe shows a significant negative correlation with soluble sugar content and a significant positive correlation with total flavonol content, Zn and Cu show a significant positive correlation with starch content, and Se shows a significant positive correlation with soluble protein content. Principal component analysis showed that the first principal component (37.61%) and the second principal component (16.60%) could well reflect the differences between healthy fruits and pest-damaged fruits, and the healthy fruits and pest-damaged fruits were obviously separated in these two principal component dimensions. It directly reveals the influence of the damage caused by O. subnotata on the nutritional components and mineral elements content of avocado fruits. The damage caused by O. subnotata has led to significant changes in the nutritional components contents of avocado fruits, the contents of soluble sugar, starch, soluble protein, crude fat and total phenol in pest-damaged fruits are significantly lower than those in healthy fruits, and it has also affected the distribution of mineral elements contents in avocado fruits, the contents of Ca and Se in pest-damaged fruits are significantly higher than those in healthy fruits, while the contents of S, K, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu and Mo are significantly lower than those in healthy fruits. This results provide basic data support for avocado resistance breeding and the sustainable development of the industry.