Nutritional quality of chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) cultivars from Portugal

Chemical composition of eight sweet chestnut cultivars from the three protected designation of origin (PDO) areas in the Trás-os-Montes region were studied: Aveleira, Rebordã, Trigueira and Zeive from PDO ‘Terra Fria’, Demanda, Longal and Martaínha from PDO ‘Soutos da Lapa’ and Judia from PDO ‘Padrela’. Chestnuts were characterised by high moisture content (∼50%), high levels of starch (43 g 100 g−1 dry matter – d.m.) and low fat content (3 g 100 g−1 d.m.). Nuts contained significant amounts of fibre (3% d.m.), were rich in K (∼750 mg 100 g−1 d.m.), P (∼120 mg 100 g−1 d.m.) and Mg (∼75 mg 100 g−1 d.m.). Moreover, chestnuts are a good source of total amino acids (6–9 g 100 g−1 d.m.). Amino acid profiles were dominated by l-aspartic acid, followed by l-glutamic acid, leucine, l-alanine and arginine. These results provide additional information about the nutritional value of each cultivar and confirm that chestnuts are an interesting healthy food.