Characteristics of the chestnuts from Una Sana Canton in comparison to other chestnut varieties and the influence of different preservation techniques on nutritive values.

摘要

Una Sana Canton (USC) is the richest area in chestnut trees in the north-western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The commercial and nutritive characteristics of a USC Castanea cultivar were compared with an Istrian chestnut cultivar under different modes of storage in laboratory conditions to establish the optimal preservation method, and to evaluate the effect of applying anti-microbial materials (extracts of rosemary and sage) during storage. Carbohydrate concentration was high (45.91%) and chestnuts had a high energy level (757 kJ/100 g). Chestnuts stored at 2 degrees C and treated with an extract from sage showed the greatest mass loss, while those stored at room temperature had the least. After a monitoring period (room temperature for 48 d; cool storage for 90 d; freezing conditions for 150 d) of all the samples which were stored by different methods, the surface was visibly contaminated by green mould (Penicillium sp.); contamination that occurred during cooling was the least in samples treated with the sage solution (3x107 Penicillium sp.). The surface of nut samples stored by freezing was not visibly contaminated.