Effect of salting and roasting on the carbohydrates and proteins of Iranian pistachio kernels

Abstract
Summary: The free sugars which make up 2.7% of Iranian pistachio cv Badami were identified as fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltose, isomaltose, cellobiose, raffinose and stachyose. Both protein and free amino acids contained the same seventeen amino acids but lacked tryptophan, asparagine and glutamine. After salting and roasting, total available carbohydrates, total starches and dextrins, and total free sugars all decreased compared to controls, as did a number of individual sugars, especially the reducing sugars. While free amino acids had severely decreased, total protein amino acids and individual protein amino acid were not affected at all. The decreases in reducing sugars and in free amino acids may be due in part to their taking part in Maillard reactions.