NUCIS number 10. December 2001. 48 pages (full ... - IAMZ - ciheam

Range of hazelnut derived products
ALMOND AND HAZELNUT
PRODUCTS. CONSUMERS’
PREFERENCES.
INTRODUCTION
Spain is the second almond world producer
(65,000 t kernel) having some
640.000 ha cultivated (MAPA, 1999).
‘Marcona’ and ‘Desmayo Largueta’ variety
types are considered, besides the commercial
type “comuna” (mixed cultivars),
cultivated in coastal areas free of late
frost and very appreciated by the turron
industry and confectionery shops, for
their good sensory and technological characteristics.
However, in recent years,
new late blooming varieties, better adapted
to the climatic conditions of the Spanish
inland plantations are being introduced.
In this sense, it is necessary to stand
out two new varieties from IRTA’s almond
breeding programme (‘Masbovera’ and
‘Glorieta’) that were released and are being
widely introduced in a large part of
new orchards (Vargas and Romero,
1994), together with ‘Nonpareil’, base of
the USA industry and export.
Regarding hazelnut, Spain is the fourth
world producer (6,000 t kernel) with a surface
about 28.000 ha (MAPA, 1999), concentrating
95 % in Catalonia region and,
particularly in Tarragona (26.000 ha),
where the hazelnut represents, in diverse
districts, an important source of income.
‘Negret’ cultivar is the base of Spanish
hazelnut production for industry and, together
with ‘Pauetet’, they constitute the
commercial type ‘negreta’ that obtains the
best price on the national market (Tous et
al., 1995). It is due to their good organoleptic
characteristic and high aptitude for
toasting which is important for most commercial
applications.
In the last years, some nut industries in
Catalonia, Spain have started to elaborate
new products with hazelnut, many of
which are typical for almond. However, it
is unknown if all hazelnut varieties are
suitable for these products and, also, the
grade of consumers’ acceptance. Traditionally,
it has been considered that almond
and hazelnut are substitute products
and that a relationship exists
among the world production of both nuts
with their respective market prices (Vargas,
1990; Tous and Romero, 1997). It
should be checked to what extent the
main hazelnut and almond varieties are
technologically adapted to each industrial
specialty, as well as their grade of acceptance
at consumer’s level would allow to
settle down if this relationship is real, as
well as the future potential market of
each product.
For this reason, IRTA-Mas Bové started
in 1998 a research project related to the
commercial characterization of the main
hazelnut varieties, besides the evaluation
of new industrial applications of hazelnut
in comparison with almond. This research
has been supported by Instituto Nacional
de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y
Alimentaria (INIA) of the Spanish Ministry
of Science and Technology, project number
SC99-002.
INDUSTRIAL MAIN ACTIVITIES
The aim of the present study was to know
the behaviour of 5 hazelnut varieties
(‘Negret’, ‘Pauetet’, ‘Tomboul’, ‘Tonda
Giffoni’ and ‘San Giovanni’) and 5 almond
varieties (‘Marcona’, ‘Desmayo Largueta’,
‘Masbovera’, ‘Francolí’ and ‘Nonpareil’).
12 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 10 December 2001