Nut and kernel traits and chemical composition of hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) cultivars.

Nut and kernel traits and chemical composition of 24 Italian and foreign hazelnut cultivars were analysed in order to study the effect of genotype and environment on nut quality.Quantitative and qualitative determinations of sugars, organic acids and lipids revealed good nutritional and health potential of the nuts with several differences among cultivars and years. The total content of oil and sugars ranged respectively from 563.69 to 656.36 g kg-1 dry weight (DW) and 39.80 to 59.51 g kg-1 DW. Fatty acid profile, sugar and total phenolic content varied in the years. Significantly higher palmitic acid concentration (6.18%) was found in the hot summer 2003; lower saturated fatty acid concentration and higher unsaturated/saturated acid ratio (11.27) were observed in the cooler year. These differences among years were highlighted by discriminant analysi