Determination of Fatty Acids, α-Tocopherol, β-Caroten, Minerals, and Some Pomological Properties of Walnut Genotypes Selected from Aras Valley (Eastern Turkey)

Fatty Acids, α-tocopherol, β-caroten, minerals, and some pomological properties of walnut genotypes from four locations (Iğdır, Tuzluca, Karakoyunlu, Kağızman) of Aras Valley (Eastern Turkey) were examined. In this study, the differences among the genotypes were determined in terms of some fruit characteristics, oil and protein contents, fatty acid composition, selenium content, α-tocopherol content, β-carotene content and some macro- and microelement contents. The genotypes different in the values of nut weight from 8.89 to16.22 g, kernel weight from 4.72 to 9.64 g, kernel ratio from 36.74 to 59.59%, and shell thickness 1.04-3.60 mm, respectively. The contents of fat and moisture of the selected genotypes were in the range of 59.18 to 68.12% and 10.49 to 23.31%, respectively. The contents of most common fatty acids determined in the genotypes were linoleic acid (58.15-64.07%), oleic acid (12.93-17.49%), linolenic acid (9.37-13.61%), palmitic acid (5.60-8.62%) and stearic acid (4.68-6.69%), whereas the contents of remaining fatty acids were rarely detected in trace amounts. In the genotypes, the amount of α-tocopherol was in the range of 8.75 to 35.11 mg/kg, β-carotene was in the range of 0.03 to 0.12 mg /kg and selenium was in the range of 15.89 to 68.19 ng/g. The  genotypes were found to have  1.09 to 2.47% N,  230.36 to 451.48 mg/100g P, 350.74 to 666.20 mg/100g K,  2.30 to 3.86 mg/100g Cu,  1.71 to 3.91 mg/100g Zn,  7.16 to 18.82 mg/100g Fe,  144.0 to 452.08 mg/100g Ca, 110.25 to 342.44 mg/100g Mg,  1.73 to 9.67 mg/100g Mn and  7.11 to 25.51 mg/100g Na. The present results revealed that the high nutritional values of walnut genotypes selected from the Aras Valley(Eastern Turkey) could have health benefits effects on human nutrition.