Nestle Research Center, Vers-chez-les-Blanc, CH-1000 Lausanne 26, Switzerland.
J Agric Food Chem. 2010 Feb 24;58(4):2082-7. doi: 10.1021/jf9041722.
Pine nuts are traditionally used in various part of the world for the preparation of desserts or sauces or in salads. Local production is not sufficient to cope with the high demand of pine nuts around the world, and countries such as China or Pakistan are exporting much of their production to Western countries. Almost all the nuts that are traditionally consumed belong to the Pinus genus, but over the past years, the number of consumer complaints following consumption of commercial pine nuts increased. Some consumers experienced taste disturbance lasting for up to two weeks after consumption. Food safety agencies raised some concerns regarding pine nuts imported from Asia and their association with taste disturbance. However, even though a formal association has not been found to date, the Pinus genus comprises species that are not classified as edible and could be eventually used to adulterate edible species. Pinus spp. seed lipids are known to contain very specific polyunsaturated fatty acids know as Delta5-olefinic acids. Seed fatty acid profile of conifers had been used in the past as a taxonomic marker, and in the present study to identify the botanical origin of pine nut in nine commercial products. Fast gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) was used to resolve the complete fatty acid profile of Pinus spp. samples in less than 5 min. A diagnostic index based on the relative levels of the main fatty acids including distinctive Delta5-olefinic acids was used to identify botanical origins. Results revealed the occurrence of the following Pinus spp. in commercial products: P. pinea, P. koraiensis, P. gerardiana, P. armandii and P. massoniana. The later two species, known as Chinese white pine and Chinese red pine, are only cultivated in China and are not listed as common source of edible pine nuts by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The present study shows that the botanical origin of pine nuts can be identified in products based on the fatty acid profile.
松子在世界各地的传统用途包括制作甜点或酱汁，或用于沙拉。当地的产量不足以满足世界各地对松子的高需求，中国和巴基斯坦等国家向西方国家出口了大量的松子。几乎所有传统上食用的坚果都属于松属，但在过去几年中，消费者在食用商业松子后出现口感问题的投诉数量有所增加。一些消费者在食用后长达两周的时间里都感到味觉紊乱。食品安全机构对从亚洲进口的松子及其与味觉紊乱的关联表示了一些担忧。然而，尽管迄今为止尚未发现正式关联，但松属植物包括未被归类为可食用的物种，最终可能被用于掺假可食用物种。众所周知，松属植物的种子脂质含有非常特殊的多不饱和脂肪酸，称为 Delta5-烯酸。过去，针叶树种子的脂肪酸谱曾被用作分类标记，在本研究中用于鉴定九种商业产品中松子的植物来源。快速气相色谱（GLC）用于在不到 5 分钟的时间内解析松属样品的完整脂肪酸谱。基于包括独特的 Delta5-烯酸在内的主要脂肪酸的相对水平的诊断指数用于鉴定植物来源。结果显示，商业产品中存在以下松属物种：欧洲赤松、红松、华山松、白皮松和马尾松。后两种物种，即中国白皮松和中国红松，仅在中国种植，并非粮农组织（FAO）常见的可食用松子来源。本研究表明，可以根据脂肪酸谱在产品中鉴定松子的植物来源。
