Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2025, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (7): 1459-1468.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20240589

• Horticultural Science • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Quality of mainly cultivated walnuts in Hubei Province of China at different harvest periods

TAN Yali1(), GAO Mengxiang1, LI Xiaojie2,*(), ZHOU Yingjie2, XIONG Jian2, ZENG Ziqi2, LI Xiao2, YANG Hua3   

  1. 1. College of Agriculture, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434000, Hubei, China
    2. National Enterprise Technology Center, Angel Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Yichang 443000, Hubei, China
    3. Hubei Anqi Qugu Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Yichang 443000, Hubei, China
  • Received:2024-07-04 Online:2025-07-25 Published:2025-08-20

Abstract:

To explore the changes in apparent traits and nutritional composition of the main cultivated walnut varieties planted in Hubei Province at different harvest periods. The main cultivated walnut varieties Zilin No.1 and Qingxiang were used as objects, the appearance traits and nutritional composition of walnuts at different harvest periods were measured. A complete evaluation of the quality of walnuts from four distinct harvest periods was conducted by correlation analysis and principal component analysis. The results showed that during the harvest period, the transverse and longitudinal diameters, kernel yield rate, and cracking rate of green fruit of Zilin No.1 and Qingxiang walnuts demonstrated a continuous upward trend. In terms of nutrient composition, the fat content showed an upward trend, while the moisture content, protein content, and calcium content showed a downward trend. The total amino acid content and zinc content, however, exhibited a pattern of initial decrease followed by an increase. Correlation analysis indicated that there were generally considerable relationships between the different nutritional components. Principal component analysis showed that 2 principal components represented 95.356% of the variable information of the 9 indicators, which could comprehensively reflect the overall changes in the nutritional quality of walnuts. Comprehensive score for characterizing the quality of walnuts increased significantly with delayed harvesting and reached its highest level at harvest period IV. Furthermore, appropriately delaying the harvest period can significantly improve the nutritional quality of walnuts. The optimal harvest period for the main cultivated walnut varieties Zilin No. 1 and Qingxiang in Hubei Province, is around August 27th.

Key words: walnut, harvest period, apparent traits, nutritional composition, principal component analysis

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