Lipid and fatty acid profiles of Castanea sativa Mill. Chestnuts of 17 native Portuguese cultivars

Abstract

In recent years, chestnuts have increasingly become important in human nutrition because of their nutrient contents and potential beneficial health effects. In Portugal, Tra´s-os-Montes e Alto Douro is the most important region for chestnut production, generating 85% of the total national output. In 1994, three chestnut protected designation of origin (PDO) areas were created: Terra Fria, Soutos da Lapa, and Padrela within the jurisdiction area of the Regional Agricultural Services of Tra´s-os-Montes Region. Seventeen cultivars were selected from these PDO to evaluate crude fat content and fatty acid (FA) composition over a period of 2 years. Total fat extraction was performed according to AOAC methodology, using a Soxhlet apparatus for 16 h. Petroleum ether was used for extraction and FAs were identified and quantified by gas chromatography. The cultivars studied confirm that chestnuts have low crude fat content, low saturated fatty acids (SFA) (17%) and high unsaturated fatty acids (USFA) (83%). The major FAs are linoleic, oleic and palmitic; these accounted for more than 85% of the total FA content. From the results two potentially health-beneficial cultivars were identified: cv. Lada, with high linoleic acid content, and cv. Aveleira, with higher USFA content. With respect to FA profiles of chestnuts from the three PDO regions, Padrela chestnuts consistently contained the highest level of linoleic acid. The variation detected among cultivars and PDO areas may reflect differences in genotype and are influenced by environmental and growing conditions. The Longal chestnuts, the only traditional cv. growing on two different PDO areas, had better nutritional qualities in PDO Terra Fria, which confirm that the ecological conditions where chestnut orchards are established influences nut quality. r

Morphological Characterization and Chemical Composition of Fruits of the Traditional Croatian Chestnut Variety 'Lovran Marron'

“…The fat content of the 'Lovran Marron' is 2.55 g per 100 g of dry mass (dm) on average; this result is within the range reported by Borges et al (48,49) (46,47) and Borges et al (48) for Portuguese chestnut cultivars (4.87-12 g per 100 g dm) and Ertan (53) for chestnut cultivars and European-Japanese hybrids from the Nazilly region in Turkey (4.6 g per 100 g dm). Great diff erences in protein content are infl uenced by the genotype and diff erent environmental conditions in which those cultivars grow.…”

“…They are also a good source of Mg, Fe, Mn and Cu (48). According to several studies (24,29,31,40,48,49) chemical composition of chestnut fruits varies by cultivar (genotype) and by environmental factors (climatic conditions, soil characteristics and production practices).…”

“…Studies of the morphological characteristics and/or chemical composition of the fruits for traditional or more recently selected cultivars of the sweet chestnut have been conducted in diff erent countries: Italy (24-29), Spain (10,(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42), Switzerland (43)(44)(45), Portugal (46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51) and Turkey (52,53). De Vasconcelos et al (54) analyzed literature data for Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece.…”

Vegetable milks and their fermented derivative products

“…§ Hypocholesterolemic benefits O. Borges, Goncalves, de Carvalho, Correia, and Silva, 2008;O. P. Borges, Carvalho, Correia, and Silva, 2007;De Vasconcelos, Bennett, Rosa, and Ferreira-Cardoso, 2010 (nut) § Low-fat content § Protective effect against CVD § Good lipid profile, mainly PUFA and followed by MUFA.…”

Crop year effects on seed yields, growing cycle length, and chemical composition of chia (Salvia hispanica L) growing in Ecuador and Bolivia

“…The significant negative relationship of a-linolenic fatty acid content with the two more saturated 18-C fatty acids, oleic and linoleic, are in agreement with previous observations reported for chia oil (Ayerza, 2009). In addition, this relation has been described for a number of crops, as almonds (Abdallah et al, 1998), chestnuts (Pires Borges et al, 2007), soybeans (Thomas et al, 2003) and flaxseed which is a rich source of a-linolenic fatty acid (Wakjira et al, 2004). This strong inverse association found herein is supported by the fact that the biosynthesis of a-linolenic fatty acid through the process of desaturation of oleic fatty acid, via linoleic fatty acid by the action of specific desaturase enzymes (Dybing and Zimmerman, 1966).…”