Effect of thermal processing on phenolic profiles and antioxidant activities in Castanea mollissima

Summary The effect of three domestic thermal processing methods on chestnut fruit was analysed in this study. By evaluating the changes of the contents of free and bound phenolic profiles as well as the antioxidant activity in chestnut fruit, our study indicated that steaming could better preserve and enhance the level of phenolics and flavonoids in chestnut fruit and thus brought to a higher antioxidant activity. Microwaving could increase the phenolic content and the antioxidant activity of chestnut fruits within a short time, while blanching caused a decrease of flavonoid contents. In addition, our research suggested that there was formation of new phenolics in chestnut fruit, which were discovered during thermal processing because of the increases of bound phenolics after processing. Therefore, the potential of chestnut fruits to be developed as a kind of functional food could be highly expected.