The influence of seasonality on total fat and fatty acids profile, protein and amino acid, and antioxidant properties of traditional Italian flours from different chestnut cultivars

Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) is an important fruit crop, representing a fundamental economic resourcein rural areas. The consumption of chestnut fruit has increased in recent years, after decades of neglectdue to high prices and loss of food traditions. Nevertheless, chestnut is a precious food, since it is a sourceof starch, essential fatty acids, essential amino acids, antioxidants and vitamins. Moreover, chestnut flourcan be used in gluten free formulations. The aim of this work was to evaluate by proximate analysisthe fatty acids and amino acids profile and the antioxidant capacity of nine native cultivars from EmiliaRomagna region, for two consecutive years. By using 2-way ANOVA analysis considering the factors “C.sativa cultivar” and “harvesting year” it was possible to state the non-dependence of carbohydrates onthese two factors. On the contrary, the variability of crude fat, crude proteins, free amino acids profile andtotal antioxidant capacity depend both on cultivar and harvesting year. Chestnut flours are a good sourceof oleic and linoleic acids: their levels, together with that of palmitic acid, are affected by the cultivar;stearic and linolenic acid variability is instead due to the harvest year. The nutritional data from thisresearch can provide useful information for the bakery industry, in view of the new trend of functionalproducts able to merge tradition and innovation.