Abstract: Ornamental crabapple（Malus spp.）is an important germplasm to create edible landscape. In this study, the water content, dry matter content, soluble solid content and vitamin C content of fruits and leaves before and after fruit maturity were measured and compared on Malus micromalus, M. zumi, M. robusta and M. ‘Radiant’, which are commonly used in Tianjin, aiming to provide reasonable suggestions for the nutritional value reference and the best harvest time of different ornamental Malus species in production. The results showed that M. ‘Radiant’ was the first to mature while M. robusta was the last. Fruit water content of M. micromalus and M. zumi was up to 80%, which have better taste in fresh. Their best harvest time was 3 days after fruit maturity. The fruit vitamin C content of M. robusta was significantly higher than the other three, and the best harvest time was about 6 days after fruit maturity. M. ‘Radiant’ fruits showed the highest nutritional value relatively, which had significantly higher soluble solid content than the other three. This study provides a reliable theoretical basis for the application of ornamental crabapple in edible plant landscape.

Key words: ornamental crabapple, water content, soluble solid content, vitamin C content, edible landscape