Physicochemical Properties and Nutritional Ingredients of Kernel Oil of Carya cathayensis Sarg

Carya cathayensis Sarg is distributed near Tianmu mountain areas in Zhejiang Province and Anhui Province, China. Kernel of Carya cathayensis Sarg , which is well-known for the daintiness and nutritional content, is popular and very delicious food in eastern China. In this paper, we investigated the physiochemical properties and nutrient gradients of the kernel oil of Carya cathayensis Sarg. The results showed that the kernel oil of Carya cathayensis Sarg contained 63% of fat, 9.1% of proteins, 3.6% of starch and 4.6% of soluble proteins (based ration of weight). The compositions of the fatty acids were very similar to olive oil, and the total unsaturated fatty acids were 94%. Meanwhile, the kernel oil of Carya cathayensis Sarg also contained some polyphenols such as vanillic acid, ferulic acid, 3-methoxybenzoic acid and quercetin. The content of total polyphenols was 9.7 μg/g. Furthermore, the kernel oil of Carya cathayensis Sarg also contained some trace amount of squalene, β -Sitosterol, Vitamin E.