INFLUENCE OF DRYING AIR VOLUMES ON FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF PECANS

• Published in: HortScience Vol. 25; no. 9; p. 1140
• Main Authors: Brown, Robert, Sistrunk, Laurence, Aldred, William, Storey, J. Benton
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.09.1990
• ISSN: 0018-5345; 2327-9834
• DOI: 10.21273/HORTSCI.25.9.1140b

`Stuart' pecans were harvested as soon as shucks would split in the fall of 1989 and 45 kg inshell samples were placed in 30 × 30 × 105 cm drying bins. The nuts were dried at air volumes of either 0, 1.27, 1.56, 1.84, or 2.12 m 3 /min down to 4% moisture. Air temperature in the drying bins was maintained at uniform 35°C with the exception of the 0 air volume treatment which was allowed to dry at room temperature. Four random samples of each treatment were held in frozen storage awaiting fatty acid analysis. Palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and linolinic fatty acids were separated in a 183 cm × 3 mm packed column using a 10% Silar 10C phase on a Gas Chrom QII, 100/120. The samples dried with a air volume of 1.27 m 3 /min retained a significantly higher oleic acid content than the 0 and 2.12 m 3 /min drying volumes. The 1.27 m 3 /min volume retained 64.55 % oleic acid compared with 61.37'% for the 0 velocity sample and 59.61% for 2.12 m 3 /min treatment. The more desirable oleic/linoleic ratio of 2.24 was found in the 1.27 m 3 /min sample compared to a 1.78 ratio in the 2.12 m 3 /min sample. Increased volume of air in the drying bins was thus deleterious to these samples because of the loss of monounsaturated fatty acid.