JOURNAL OF NANJING FORESTRY UNIVERSITY ›› 2023, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (6): 159-166.doi: 10.12302/j.issn.1000-2006.202111009

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Study on correlation between browning degree of chestnut fruit and total phenols and flavonoids

FAN Xiaoyun1(), GUO Sujuan1,*(), LI Yanhua2, JIANG Xibing3   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory for Silviculture and Conservation of Ministry of Education, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
    2. Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Yimen County, Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, Yimen 651100, China
    3. Research Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Hangzhou 311499, China
  • Received:2021-11-05 Revised:2022-03-02 Online:2023-11-30 Published:2023-11-23

Abstract:

【Objective】 Chestnut(Castanea mollissima) belongs to Castanea genus of Fagaceae. Its fruit is rich in starch, protein, fat, vitamins B and other nutritional elements, with excellent flavor and high nutritional value. Chestnut kernel is yellow, sweet and delicious, and can be processed into a variety of products. Chestnut is prone to browning during the course of storage and processing, causing changes in color and taste reducing nutritional quality. In this study, the browning degree of different parts of chestnut kernel and the difference of total phenol and total flavonoid between chestnut kernel and seed coat before and after roasting were analyzed, the correlation between the browning degree of chestnut fruit and total phenol and total flavonoid was analyzed, the resistance to browning of chestnut varieties was comprehensively evaluated based on entropy weight method and gray correlation method, and the chestnut varieties with strong resistance to browning were screened out. It provides theoretical reference for chestnut processing and variety screening.【Method】We determined the browning degree, total phenolic content and total flavonoids content of chestnut kernel before and after baking as well as the contents of total phenols and flavonoids in endocarp of 105 chestnut varieties using spectral color meter and ultraviolet spectrophotometer. We then analyzed the relationship between browning degree and the contents of total phenolic and total flavonoids. The comprehensive evaluation of browning resistance of different chestnut varieties was carried out by the entropy weight method and grey correlation degree method, and the evaluation models of browning resistance of different chestnut varieties were obtained.【Result】Differences in the browning degree (△L) before and after roasting varied among cotyledon surface, cotyledon center and cotyledon middle tissues, ranking as the surface layer of cotyledon > middle cotyledon > cotyledon center. The total phenolic content (544.46 mg/g) and total flavonoid content (484.25 mg/g) in chestnut inner seed coat were significantly higher than those in chestnut kernel, the total phenolic content of inner seed coat was slightly higher than that in total flavonoid, and the total phenolic content in chestnut kernel was significantly higher than that in total flavonoid. The browning degree of cotyledon surface layer was significantly and positively correlated with total phenolic content (R=0.863), but not with total flavonoid content (R=0.445). The total phenolic content was not correlated with total flavonoid content (R=0.411). Browning degree was the largest weight coefficient (w=0.514 3). We then divided the 105 chestnut varieties into three grades: 51 varieties were highly resistant to browning with the weighted correlation degree was 0.920 6-0.972 3, 29 varieties were resistant to browning, and 25 cultivars with a weighted correlation between 0.708 2 and 0.826 7 were weakly resistant to browning.【Conclusion】The total phenolic content of chestnut inner peel was closely related to the browning of chestnut kernel. The browning resistance of chestnut in north China was stronger than that in south China, among which ‘Yanshanzaofeng’ ‘Donglingmingzhu’ and ‘Dabanhong’ ranked the top three. Therefore, the key to prevent the surface browning of chestnut kernel cotyledon was to reduce the total phenolic content and total flavonoid content in the inner seed coat.

Key words: chestnut(Castanea mollissima), browning degree, total phenol, total flavonoid, grey interconnect degree, comprehensive evaluation

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