Macroelements content in nougat, a traditional Spanish sweet.

摘要

The Na, K, Ca and Mg contents of 66 nougat samples (21 Alicante nougats and 21 Jijona nougats both of Supreme quality, and 12 Alicante nougats and 12 Jijona nougats both of Extra quality) were analysed. Results showed that high contents of K, Ca and Mg were found in both Supreme and Extra qualities of nougat, while Na was found at lower levels. K showed the least variability of all elements, the highest contents being found in Supreme quality Alicante nougat ( greater than 300 mg/100 g). K waspresent at very similar levels for both Extra quality Alicante and Jijona nougats; 264.3 plus/minus 9.0 and 276.6 plus/minus 15.5 mg/100 g, respectively. Mg content was higher in Supreme quality Jijona nougat ( greater than 155 mg/100 g) than in Supremequality Alicante nougat ( greater than 125 mg/100 g). Greater Ca content was found in Jijona nougat of both qualities (Supreme = 175.1 plus/minus 15.2 mg/100 g and Extra = 147.3 plus/minus 12.9 mg/100 g) as opposed to Alicante nougat (Supreme = 155.9 plus/minus 32.7 mg/100 g and Extra = 106.2 plus/minus 16.7 mg/100 g). Analysis of variance results showed that Ca and Mg contents presented significant differences between Alicante and Jijona nougats, while Na content was practically the same in both types of Supreme quality nougat (P = 0.898). In general, average contents for the 4 analysed elements were higher in Supreme than in Extra quality nougat due to the higher percentage of almond added to the former; 60 and 64%, respectively, for Supreme quality Alicante and Jijona nougats, vs. 46 and 50%, respectively, for Extra quality Alicante and Jijona nougats.