Abstract
This study was carried out to determine some fruit properties and biochemical (total oil, fatty acid composition, protein, total phenolic compounds, total antioxidant capacity, total flavonoids) characteristics of different pecan nut cultivars (Burkett, Choctaw, Mahan, Western, Wichita) grown in the Antalya Region (BATEM). It was determined that some fruit properties and biochemical contents of the cultivars used in the study. In the study, it was determined that the shelled fruit weight varied between 7.78 g (Burkett) and 11.40 g (Mahan), kernel weight between 3.45 g (Burkett) and 5.99 g (Mahan), and kernel percentage between 44.2% (Burkett) and 55.6% (Western). The total oil content of the cultivars ranged from 67.70% (Mahan) to 73.95% (Wichita), protein content from 7.45% (Mahan) to 9.76% (Western), total phenolic compounds from 115.29 mg GAE g-1 (Choctaw) to 176.65 mg GAE/g (Burkett), total antioxidant capacity from 201.36 mg TEAC g-1 (Choctaw) to 487.89 mg TEAC g-1 (Burkett), and total flavonoids from 1.84 mg Catechin g-1 (Western) to 2.24 mg Catechin/g (Mahan). In the study, oleic acid was determined as the major fatty acid, and the lowest ratio of unsaturated fatty acids was found in the Wichita cultivar (90.73%), but the highest ratio was determined in the Western cultivar (91.43%).
Highlights
The homeland of Pecan nut [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenheim.) K
Significant differences were found between the cultivars in terms of stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, protein ratios, and total antioxidant capacity, while there were no significant differences between the cultivars in terms of palmitic acid, saturated fatty acids, unsaturated fatty acid, total phenolics, and total flavonoid contents
Zhang and Duan et al (2011) determined that the protein contents of the Jinhua and Shaoxing cultivars varied over the years, the protein ratios varied between 8.50% -9.70% in the Jinhua cultivar and between 7.50%-8.30% in the Shaoxing cultivar
Summary
The homeland of Pecan nut [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenheim.) K. Koch] is North America, it is cultivated nowadays in different regions of the world such as Mexico, South Africa, Australia, China, and Turkey (Gardea et al, 2011; Rosa et al, 2014). The amount of pecan nut production was 222 000 tons in the United States, which was the world's largest pecan nut producer in 2019, followed by Mexico (128 705 tons), South Africa (18 945 tons), Australia (2 900 tons), and Turkey (2 000 tons) (INC., 2018). Determining the tree growth, fruit characteristics, and biochemical contents of these cultivars have gained importance in terms of improving the cultivation of pecan nuts. The preference for products with high nutritional content by the consumers and products with high yields by the producers demonstrate that the demand for pecan nuts is increasing day by day. The high internal yield, high internal quality, high adaptability to poor soils, the breakable characteristic of its crust by hand, the long time postharvest storage ability of its fruits and its ability to be cultivated with less cost in the subtropical climates as compared to the other fruit species are the most important characteristics of pecan nut which distinguish it from other hard-shelled fruit species (Ozdemir, 2013)
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