Heavy nuclei can be synthetized or entrained in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with implications
on the high-energy neutrino emission. By means of a Monte-Carlo algorithm, we model nuclear
cascades and investigate their impact on the neutrino production considering kinetic dominated
jets (in the internal shock model, including a dissipative photosphere) as well as Poynting flux
dominated jets (for a jet model invoking internal-collision-induced magnetic reconnection and
turbulence, ICMART). We find that the ICMART model allows for efficient nuclear cascades leading
to an overall larger neutrino fluence than in the other two jet models. The survival of nuclei
and inefficient nuclear cascades lead to an overall reduction of the neutrino fluence up to one
order of magnitude. However, if nuclei are disintegrated, the neutrino fluence may be comparable
to the one emitted from a jet loaded with protons. Exploring the parameter space of jet
properties, we conclude that the composition and the bulk Lorentz factor have significant impact
on the efficiency of nuclear cascades as well as the spectral shape of the expected neutrino
fluence. On the other hand, the neutrino spectral distribution is less sensitive to the power-law
index of the accelerated population of protons or heavier nuclei. For what concerns the diffuse
emission of neutrinos from GRBs, we find that the uncertainty due to the jet composition can be at
most comparable to the one related to the GRB cosmological rate.