Antioxidant activity and phenolic content of fresh and dry nuts with or without the seed coat

Total antioxidant activities based on ABTS free radical scavenging activity and phenolic content of fresh or dry hazelnuts, walnuts and pistachios assayed with their seed coats changed between 3063 and 11,076 μmol trolox equivalents/100 g d.w. and 256 and 755 mg gallic acid equivalents/100 g d.w., respectively. The walnuts used in this study showed the highest antioxidant activity, followed by pistachios and hazelnuts. The removal of seed coat reduced the total antioxidant activity of hazelnuts, walnuts and pistachios almost 36, 90 and 55%, respectively. The total antioxidant activities of investigated fresh and dry nuts are not considerably different. However, phenolic content and antioxidant activity in hydrophilic and ethanolic fractions obtained by successive extraction of nuts showed some variation. The antioxidant activity in 1-serving portion of fresh or dry walnuts is equivalent to that in almost 2-serving portions of black tea, and 1.2–1.7-serving portions of green and Earl Grey tea. One-serving portions of dry hazelnuts and fresh or dry pistachios contained antioxidant activity equivalent to that in 0.7–1-serving portions of black tea. The antioxidant activity measurements correlated with phenolic content (r2 = 0.70). This study showed the potential of using fresh or dry nuts to develop functional foods with high antioxidant activity.