ISHS Acta Horticulturae 705: V International Walnut Symposium
WALNUT: INSIGHTS AND NUTRITIONAL VALUE |
| Authors: | C. Cannella, S. Dernini |
| Keywords: | food composition, nutrients, alfa-linoleic acid, taurine, Mediterranean diet |
| Abstract:
Walnut is the shell fruit most of the time eaten as such in our country; alone, with dry figs, with cheese or like an ingredient in bread, sauces and cakes. In the famous recipes book written by Pellegrino Artusi “La Scienza in cucina e l’Arte di mangiar bene” walnut is an ingredient in several recipes: n°103 “spaghetti da quaresima” with pasta; n°560 “presnitz”, a traditional cake of Trieste; n°619 “cavallucci di Siena”; n°561 “torta di noci” in a cake; n°750 “Nocino”, the famous liquor. From fresh walnuts it can be extracted a straw-coloured, clear oil that must be protected from the light and oxidant agents, in general, because it becomes rancid easily. This walnut oil, once used as a tonic for children and aged people, is also used as a dry agent for painting for the rapidity by which colours dry in it. The walnuts’ nutritional value is comparable to that one of cheeses for the high presence of proteins (14-24%) and fats (52-70%). Walnuts are a high source of essential unsaturated fatty acids such as the alfa-linoleic acid. Their content in proteins and vitamins is good, especially in vitamins of the B group and E, and in minerals, K and Mg are worth mentioning. Very important compounds are amino acids (glutamic acid, arginine and leucine) but particularly a sulfured one: taurine (2-aminoethylsulfonic acid, presents in variable quantities between 0,2 and 0,6 mg%.), important compound because it is involved in many functions: homeostatic regulation, thermoregulation, nervous conduction, protection against oxidative stress, etc. | |
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