AUTHOR=Antora Salma Akter , Ho Khanh-Van , Lin Chung-Ho , Thomas Andrew L. , Lovell Sarah T. , Krishnaswamy Kiruba 

TITLE=Quantification of Vitamins, Minerals, and Amino Acids in Black Walnut (Juglans nigra)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.936189

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2022.936189

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=This paper aims to quantify the micronutrients in black walnut and address its human health benefits. The metabolic profiling of 11 black walnut cultivars was accomplished using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight high-resolution mass spectrometer. Results revealed that the highest concentration of vitamin B9 was present in cultivar ‘Daniel’ (avg. relative signal intensity 229.53×104 mAU). ‘Surprise’ and ‘Daniel’ cultivars had the highest amount of vitamin B5. However, vitamin A, D3, E, and K showed no significant difference among the cultivars. The vitamin content levels among the cultivars were compared by applying one way ANOVA method with (P<0.05) significance level. Mineral analysis for black walnut kernel and protein powder was done using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission spectroscopy. The experimental data for black walnut kernel is 0.04 mg/g for Fe and 0.03 mg/g for Zn, and for black walnut protein powder is 0.07 mg/g for Fe and 0.07 mg/g for Zn. The amino acid analysis and comparison with black walnut kernel show that black walnut flour and protein powder have a higher amount of essential and non-essential amino acid.  Therefore, researchers, food process engineers, and food product developers should consider the health benefits of black walnuts and explore the commercial potential of this native agroforestry crop.