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Characterization of walnut, almond, and pine nut shells regarding chemical composition and extract composition

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Abstract

The shells of three important food nuts, walnut, almond, and pine nut, were studied in view of valorization as residues. The shells differed chemically: walnut shells had 10.6% extractives, 30.1% lignin, and 49.7% polysaccharides; almond shells 5.7% extractives, 28.9% lignin, and 56.1% polysaccharides; and pine nut shells 4.5% extractives, 40.5% lignin, and 48.7% polysaccharides. The polysaccharide composition also differed, e.g., glucose/xylose ratio of 1.12, 0.94, and 2.29 for walnut, almond, and pine nut shells, respectively. Walnut and almond shells have a SG lignin (S/G 1.6 and 1.0, respectively) and pine nut shell a G lignin. The lipophilic extracts contained mostly saturated and unsaturated alkanoic acids. The ethanol-water extracts contained total phenolics, flavonoids, and condensed tannins. The antioxidant activity was moderate (IC50 15.2, 7.9, and 8.2 μg/mL for walnut, almond, and pine nut). The three nut shells fractured easily with little formation of fines.

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Acknowledgements

Carla Queirós and Sofia Cardoso acknowledge PhD fellowships from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) under the SUSFOR doctoral program (SFRH/BD/52409/2013 and SFRH/BD/52404/2013) and Ana Lourenço a post-doctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/95385/2013). Centro de Estudos Florestais (UID/AGR/00239/2013) and Centro de Química Estrutural (UID/QUI/00100/2013) are research units supported by FCT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Estudos Florestais, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal

    Carla S. G. P. Queirós, Sofia Cardoso, Ana Lourenço, Joana Ferreira, Isabel Miranda & Helena Pereira

  2. Centro de Química Estrutural, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Edf C8, lab 8.4.32, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    Carla S. G. P. Queirós & Maria José V. Lourenço

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  1. Carla S. G. P. Queirós
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Correspondence to Isabel Miranda.

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Queirós, C.S.G.P., Cardoso, S., Lourenço, A. et al. Characterization of walnut, almond, and pine nut shells regarding chemical composition and extract composition. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 10, 175–188 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-019-00424-2

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