Nutritional Characteristics (Fatty Acid Profile, ProximateComposition andDietary Feature) of Selected NutsAvailable in Local Market

The present work describes fatty acid profile, proximate composition andnutritional quality ofselected nuts (Almond, Pistachio, Walnut, Pine nut and Peanut).Differences (p< 0.05) werenoticed in the crudeprotein (17.85-31.17%), total lipids (49.81-66.96%), carbohydrate (1.46-14.14%), moisture (2.50-4.50%) and ash (1.50-3.60%) contents of the nuts.The palmitic acid andstearic acid were the main saturated fatty acids (SFA), oleic acid was the predominantmonounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA),while thelinoleic and linolenic acidwere the majorpolyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). The percentage oflinoleic acidexceeded that of linolenicacidin all analyzed nut samples.A majorfinding ofLC-PUFA (Long Chain PUFA) amongwalnut was found higher (72.14 g/100g), due to higher linoleic and linolenic acid (57.26 and 14.88g/100g). In addition the calculated essential PUFA/SFA ratio was ranged as 3.10-11.49. Howeverratio ofn-6/n-3FAranged 3.83-11.05, lowern-6/n-3for walnut is beneficial for nutrition purposeby providing moren-3essential FAs in comparison of other analyzed nuts. The results showedthat all selected nuts have good nutritional quality and could be used in fightingmalnutrition andcan serve as valuable source of oil for industrial purposes.