EFFECT OF YEAR AND CULTIVAR ON CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF CHESTNUTS FROM NORTHEASTERN PORTUGAL

Fiber (NDF), starch, crude protein (CP), crude fat (CF), minerals and fatty acid composition of raw shelled chestnut kernels were determined on dry matter (DM) basis to chemically characterize the fruits of Castanea sativa in three regions of Trás-os-Montes (Carrazedo de Montenegro, Vinhais and Vila Real). This study showed that chemical composition depends on cultivar and year, the interaction cultivar x year also being significant.
The observed variation in starch and CP was mainly determined by cultivar while the remaining parameters were mostly affected by year and cultivar x year interaction.
In general, chestnuts showed either high or medium concentrations of starch and NDF (60.7 ± 5.3 and 22.5 ± 5.5 g.100g^-1 DM, respectively). CF was consistently low (1.3 ± 0.5 g.100g^-1 DM), showing however high percentage of C18:1 (25.7 ± 4.5% of total fatty acid methyl esters – FAME) and of essential PUFA, namely C18:3 (6.6 ± 1.7% FAME) and C18:2 (51.5 ± 4.8% FAME). High levels of P and K (181.6 ± 58.7 and 1202.7 ± 351.4 mg.100g^-1 DM, respectively) were noticed in mineral composition.
Among the studied cultivars, ‘Lada’ and ‘Benfeita’ presented greater nutritional characteristics due to the levels of CP (9.5 ± 3.2 and 12.0 ± 3.6 g.100g^-1 DM, respectively) and PUFA, particularly C18:3-ϖ3 (8.4 ± 0.7 and 9.0 ± 2.3% FAME, respectively).

III International Chestnut Congress

J.V. Ferreira-Cardoso, J.M.G. Torres-Pereira, C.A. Sequeira

Castanea sativa, chestnut fruits, cultivar characterization, nutritional composition, fiber, starch, crude protein, crude fat, fatty acids, minerals

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2005.693.33