Nutritional composition, including total phenolics, tannins and nutrient components, of acorns of Q. actissima, Q. serrata, Q. variabilis and Q. mongolica were analyzed. Acorns were collected from each tree species, which were grown in a seed orchard. Contents of both total phenolics and tannins in acorns of Q. serrata were higher than those of Q. actissima (p < 0.05). Interestingly, Q. serrata contained the highest amount of water soluble tannins (71 ㎎/g dw) and the lowest levels of water insoluble tannins (8.1 ㎎/g dw) among 4 oak species, resulting that acorns of Q. serrata had the lowest proportion of insoluble tannins. Among 4 oak species tested, Q. mongolicav acorns contained the highest levels of both total dietary fiber (TDF) and ascorbic acid, while the content of beta-carotene in Q. mongolicav was 52-fold lower than that in Q. variabilis (520 ㎍/100 g). Our result showed that nutritional composition of acoms was significantly different between oak species, indicating that tastes or nutritional values might be different as well among major oak species in Korea.

This study was conducted to examine the geographic variation of bud phenology of Zelkova serrata provenances. Data were collected from Gangneung, Yilmsil, Hwaseong and Jinju plantations which were parts of the 6 provenance trials established by Korea Forest Research Institute in 2009. The 16 provenances were included in these trials. The starting date of bud burst and finishing date of leaf expansion were investigated from April to May every other day. The four geographic factors and fifteen climatic factors of the test sites and provenances were considered in this study. Canonical correlation analysis was conducted to examine the major factors affecting the bud phenology between test sites and provenances. The study results suggested that the major factors affecting the timing of bud burst were the differences of extremely high temperature (March-October), annual mean temperature, mean temperature (March-October), extremely high temperature (July-August) and mean humidity (June-October) between test site and provenance. The provenances with lower mean or high temperature than those of plantation showed the earlier bud burst and leaf expansion. It showed a typical north-south or low-high temperature cline. Finally, we discussed the implication of the tree breeding program of Z. serrata based on these results.