Hazelnut variety organic acids, sugars and total lipid fatty acids

Several cultivars and selections of hazelnut kernels from Oregon and Italy were analyzed for organic acids, fatty acids, and sugars by GLC and HPCL. The major organic acid was malate which ranged from 0.5 to 2.0 mg per g kernel dry weight, with higher average values for samples grown in Italy. Oxalic, galacturonic, succinic, levulinic, acetic, and butyric acids were also found, but in small quantity. Total sugar content averaged around 4% dry weight and ranged from 2.8% to 5.6%. Sucrose accounted for 90% of total sugars, followed by stachyose (6%) and raffinose (3%). Glucose, fructose and myo-inositol were present in low amounts (50–400 μg/g). Lipid content ranged from 62% to 70% of dry weight and oleic acid was the predominant fatty acid.