Mineral Analysis of Pine Nuts (Pinus spp.) Grown in New Zealand

Mineral analysis of seven Pinus species grown in different regions of New Zealand; Armand pine (Pinus armandii Franch), Swiss stone pine (Pinus cembra L.), Mexican pinyon (Pinus cembroides Zucc. var. bicolor Little), Coulter pine (Pinus coulteri D. Don), Johann's pine (Pinus johannis M.F. Robert), Italian stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) and Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana Parry ex Carrière), was carried out using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrophotometer (ICP-OES) analysis. Fourteen different minerals (Al, B, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, S and Zn) were identified in all seven varieties, except that no Al or Na was found in Pinus coulteri D. Don. New Zealand grown pine nuts are a good source of Cu, Mg, Mn, P and Zn, meeting or exceeding the recommended RDI for these minerals (based on an intake of 50 g nuts/day) while they supplied between 39%-89% of the New Zealand RDI for Fe. Compared to other commonly eaten tree-nuts New Zealand grown pine nuts are an excellent source of essential minerals.