Determination of Amino Acids in Coconut Meat and Its Nutritional Evaluation
The objective of the study is to evaluate of amino acid nutritive compositions in coconut meat. Seven Chinese coconut varieties from Wenchang,Hainan were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. The results showed that the total contents of 17 kinds of amino acid was varied from 3.58% to 5.80%,and the average content was 4.29%. The amino acid content of Wenye 2 was the highest and Wenye 4 the lowest. The essential amino acids of Wenye 2 and Wenye 3 were the highest,while Xiaohuang coconut was the lowest. The content of delicious amino acids of Wenye 2 and Wenye 3 were the highest. Correlation analysis indicated that if the amino acid was higher,the essential amino acids and delicious amino acids would also be higher. The seven coconut varieties were classified into three groups according to their amino acid composition and contents by a clustering method. The data would provide important evidence for further exploitation of coconut. The study suggested that all kinds of essential amino acids differed more from FAO/WHO recommended amino acid pattern.Wenye 2 and Wenye 3 may be better on evaluation ofamino acid nutritive compositions.