CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SELECTED ACORNS

Abstract

SUMMARY Acorn varieties within twelve oak species were analyzed for chemical and physical attributes. The kernels were evaluated for moisture, ether extract, crude fiber, ash, crude protein, tannin, nitrogen‐free extract (less tannins), texture and surface color. The acorns were evaluated for length, width, shape and percent kernel. Except for the crude fiber assay, all chemical and physical analyses at the varietal level were significantly different. Generally, all attributes varied significantly between species. Correlations between attributes were shown to exist at the varietal and species levels. All chemical attributes varied highly significantly at the subgenus level. Significant variation at the subgenus level was also shown for kernel Rd and b values.