Vitamin E profile as a reliable authenticity discrimination Factor between ches...

• Author(s): Barreira, João C.M. ; Alves, Rita C. ; Casal, Susana ; Ferreira, Isabel C.F.R. ; Oliveira, M.B.P.P. ; Pereira, J.A.
• Date: 2009
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10198/2613
• Origin: Biblioteca Digital do IPB
• Subject(s): Chestnut kernel oil; HPLC; Vitamin E; Discriminant analysis
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

In this study, the profile of tocopherols and tocotrienols in chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) kernel oil was evaluated. Four Portuguese chestnut varieties were selected: Aveleira, Boaventura, Judia, and Longal. The vitamin E determination had already been applied to similar matrices, but, to the authors’ knowledge, it is the first time that chestnut kernel oil has been evaluated. The prevalent vitamer was γ-tocopherol, often present in trace amounts in other natural products. Due to the high commercial value of chestnut, a statistical analysis of the obtained results was also conducted to define the tocopherol and tocotrienol profile as a reliable indicator of a specific chestnut variety. To achieve this objective, an analysis of variance was performed to evaluate the accuracy of the method as well as the uniformity of results for each variety. A discriminant analysis was also carried out revealing quite satisfactory results. Four varieties were clustered in four individual groups through the definition of two discriminant analysis dimensions.