Nuts Composition and their Health Benefits

Authors: S. Azadmard-Damirchi, Sh. Emami, J. Hesari, S.H. Peighambardoust, M. Nemati

Abstract:

Nuts are part of a healthy diet such as Mediterranean diet. Benefits of nuts in reducing the risk of heart disease has been reasonably attributed to their composition of vitamins, minerals, unsaturated fatty acids, fiber and phytochemicals such as polyphenols, tocopherols, squalene and phytosterols. More than 75% of total fatty acids of nuts are unsaturated. α- tocopherol is the main tocopherol isomer present in most of the nuts. While walnuts, Brazil nut, cashew nut, peanut, pecan and pistachio nuts are rich in γ- tocopherol. β- sitosterol is dominant sterol in nuts. Pistachio and pine nut have the highest total phytosterol and Brazil nut and English walnut the lowest. Walnuts also contain large amount of phenolic compounds compared with other nuts. Nuts are rich in compounds with antioxidant properties and their consumption can offer preventing from incidence of many diseases including cardiovascular.

Keywords: Nuts, phenols, phytosterols, squalene, vitamin E.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1329785

References:

[1] M. Kornsteiner, K.H. Wanger, I. Elmadfa, ÔÇ│Tocopherols and total phenolics in 10 different nut types,ÔÇ│ Food chemistry, vol. 98, pp. 381- 387. 2006.
[2] J. Sabate, ÔÇ│Nut consumption and body weight,ÔÇ│ Am J Clin Nutr, vol. 78(suppl), pp. 647S-650S. 2003.
[3] C-Y. O. Chen, J. B. Blumberg, ÔÇ│Phytochemical composition of nuts,ÔÇ│ Asian Pac J Clin Nutr, vol. 17, pp. 329-332. 2008.
[4] J. S. Amaral, S. Casal, J. A. Pereira, R. M. Seabra, B. P. P. Oliveira, ÔÇ│Detrmination of sterol and fatty acid compositions, oxidative stability and nutritional value of six walnut (Juglans regia L.) cultivars grown in Portugal,ÔÇ│ J. Agric Food Chem, vol. 51, no. 26, pp. 7698-7702. 2003.
[5] L.S. Maguire, S.M. O-Sullivan, K. Galvin, T.P. O-Connor, N.M. O-Brien, ÔÇ│Fatty acid profile, squalene and phytosterol content of walnuts, almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts and the macadamia nut,ÔÇ│ International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition, vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 171-178, 2004.
[6] E. Ryan, K. Galvin, T. P. O-Connor, A. R. Maguire, N. M. O-Brien, ÔÇ│Fatty acid profile, squalene and phytosterol content of Brazil, pecan, pine, pistachio and cashew nuts,ÔÇ│ Int. J. Food Sci Nutr., vol. 57, no. ┬¥, pp. 219-228, 2006.
[7] T. Chanhieng, A. Hafidi, D. Pioch, J. Brochier, D. Montet, ÔÇ│Detailed study of Brazil nut (Bretholletia excelsa) oil micro-compounds: phospholipids, tocopherols and sterols,ÔÇ│ J. Braz. Chem. Soc, vol. 19, no. 7, pp. 1374-1380. 2008.
[8] S. Azadmard-Damirchi, P. Dutta, "Phytosterol classes in olive oils and their analysis by common chromatographic methods," in: Olives and olive oil in Health and disease prevention, V. R. Preedy and R. R. Watson, Eds. Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier, 2010. pp. 249- 257.
[9] K. M. Phillips, D. M. Ruggio, M. Ashraf-Khorasani, ÔÇ│Phytosterol composition of nuts and seeds commonly consumed in the United States,ÔÇ│ J. Agric. Food Chem, vol. 53, pp. 9436-9445. 2005.
[10] Sh. K. Sathe, E. K. Monaghan, H. H. Kshirsagar, M. Venkatachalam, "Chemical Composition of Edible Nut Seeds and Its Implications in Human Health," in: Tree nuts composition, phytochemicals, and health effects, C. Alasalvar and F. Shahidi, Eds. Taylor & Francis Group, 2008. pp. 11-35.
[11] A. Kamal-Edin, A. Mozzami, ÔÇ│Plant sterols and stanols as cholesterollowering ingredients in functional foods,ÔÇ│ Recent patent on food, nutrition and agriculture, vol. 1, pp. 1-14. 2009.
[12] D. Firestone, R. J. Reina, "Authenticity of vegetable oils," in: Food Authentication, P. R. Ashurst, M. J. Dennis, Eds. London, U.K.: Chapman and Hall, 1996. pp 198-285.
[13] W. Kamm, F. Dionisi, C. Hischenhuber, K. Engel, ÔÇ│Authenticity assessment of fats and oils,ÔÇ│ Food ReV. Int, vol. 17, pp. 249-290. 2001.
[14] A. Kaijser, P.C. Dutta, G.P. Savage, ÔÇ│Oxidative stability and lipid composition of macadamia nuts grown in New Zealand,ÔÇ│ Food Chem, vol. 71, pp. 67-70. 2000.
[15] S. Azadmard-Damirchi, G.P. Savage, P.C. Dutta, ÔÇ│Sterol fractions in hazelnut and virgin olive oils and 4, 4 - dimethylsterols as possible markers for detection of adulteration of virgin olive oil,ÔÇ│ J. Am. Oil. Chem. Soc, vol. 82, no. 10, pp. 717-725. 2005.
[16] J.S. Amaral, S. Casal, I. Citova, A. Santos, R.M. Seabra, B.P.P. Oliveira, ÔÇ│Characterization of several hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) cultivars based in chemical, fatty acid and sterol composition,ÔÇ│ Eur Food Res Tech, vol. 222, pp. 274-280. 2006.
[17] E. Arena, S. Campisi, B. Fallico, E. Maccarone, ÔÇ│ Distribution of fatty acids and phytosterols as a criterion to discriminate geographic origin of pistachio seedsÔÇ│, Food Chemistry, vol. 104, no. 1, pp. 403-408. 2007.
[18] T.G. Toschi, M.F. Caboni, G. Penazzi, G. Lercker, P. Capella, ÔÇ│A study on cashew nut oil composition,ÔÇ│ J. Am Oil Chem Soc, vol. 70, no. 10, pp. 1017-1020. 1993.
[19] Ye, L., Koehler, P.E., and Eitenmiller, R.R. 2000. Sterol content of peanuts, pecans and peanut products, Abst# 14B-45, 2000 IFT Annual Meeting.
[20] J.S. Amaral, S. Casal, D. Torres, R.M. Seabra, B.P.P. Oliveira, ÔÇ│Simultaneous determination of tocopherols and tocotrienols in hazelnuts by a normal phase liquid chromatographic method,ÔÇ│ J. Anal sci, vol. 21, pp. 1545-1548. 2005.
[21] D. J. Mustacich, R. S. Bruno, M. G. Traber, "Vitamin E," in: Vitamin E, Vitamins and Hormones Advances in Research and Applications, vol. 76, G. Litwack, Ed. Elsevier, 2007. pp. 1-21.
[22] Q. Jiang, S. Christen, M.K. Shigenaga, B.N. Ames, ÔÇ│╬│-Tocopherol, the major form of vitamin E in the US diet, deserves more attention,ÔÇ│ Am J Clin Nutr, vol. 74, pp. 714-722. 2001.
[23] C. Alasalvar, J.S. Amaral, F. Shahidi, ÔÇ│Functional lipid characteristics of Turkish Tombul hazelnut,ÔÇ│ J. Agric. Food. Chem, vol. 54, no. 26, pp. 10177-10183. 2006.
[24] G. P. Savage, P. C. Dutta, D. L. McNeil, ÔÇ│Fatty acid and tocopherol contents and oxidative stability of walnut oils,ÔÇ│ J. Am. Oil. Chem. Soc, vol. 76, no. 9, pp. 1059-1063. 1999.
[25] F., Shahidi, H. Miraliakbari, "Tree nuts oil." in: Bailey-s industrial oil and fat products, vol. 3, Y.H. Hui, Ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons Inc, 2005. pp. 175-193.
[26] A. Sattar, M. Jan, A. Ahmad, A. Hussain, I. Khan, ÔÇ│Light induced oxidation of nut oils (Short communication),ÔÇ│ Food / Nahrung, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 213-215. 1989.
[27] D.O. Labuckas, D.M. Maestri, M. Perello, M.L. Martinez, A.L. Lamarque, ÔÇ│Phenolics from walnut (Juglans regia L.) kernels: Antioxidant activity and interactions with proteins,ÔÇ│ Food chem, vol. 107, no. 2, pp. 607-612. 2008.
[28] K. J. Anderson, S. S. Teuber, P. Gobeille, A. L. Waterhouse, F. M. Steinberg, ÔÇ│Walnut polyphenols inhibit in vitro human plasma and LDL oxidation,ÔÇ│ J. nutr, vol. 131, no. 11, pp. 2837-2842. 2001.
[29] M. L. D. L. Francisco, A. V. A. Resurreccion, ÔÇ│Functional components in peanuts,ÔÇ│ Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, vol. 48, pp. 715-746. 2008.
[30] S. D. Senter, R. J. Horvat, W. R. Forbus, ÔÇ│Comparative GLC-MS Analysis of Phenolic Acids of Selected Tree Nuts,ÔÇ│ J. Food Sci, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 798-799. 1983.
[31] Yang, J., Halim, L., Liu, R.H. 2005. Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of common nuts. Abst# 35-5, 2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20, New Orleans, Louisiana.
[32] R. L. Prior, L. Gu, ÔÇ│Occurrence and biological significance of proanthocyanidins in the American dietÔÇ│, Phytochemistry, vol. 66, pp. 2264-2280. 2005.
[33] Y. Kohno, Y. Egawa, S. Itoh, S. Nagaoka, M. Takahashi, K. Mukai, ÔÇ│Kinetic study of quenching reaction of singlet oxygen and scavenging reaction of free radical by squalene in n-butanol,ÔÇ│ Biochim. Biophys. Acta, vol. 1256, pp. 52-56. 1995.
[34] Z. R. Huang, Y. K. Lin, J. Y. Fang, ÔÇ│Biological and Pharmacological Activities of Squalene and Related Compounds: Potential Uses in Cosmetic Dermatology,ÔÇ│ Molecules, vol. 14, pp. 540-554. 2009.