Acorn Coffee, Functional Food, Herbal Coffee, Minerals, Quercus Coccifera L.

Abstract:

Background and Purpose: Wild plant nuts have been important food resources, mainly staple substitute in food crisis periods, during the human history. Acorns which are fruits of Quercus trees growing in Mediterranean climate are also important wild food and feed source with high nutritive value. Besides its folkloric food uses for human diets and important feed source especially in poultry, processed acorns have been used as herbal coffee in some regions. Nutritional values and mineral compositions of wild edible plants have been studied and many publications were released up to now. Material and Methods: Acorns used in the present study were harvested from wild Quercus coccifera L. tree and shrubs in Kilis, located in Eastern Mediterranean Region in November 2016. Acorns were dried, peeled and prepared for laboratory analysis. Acorn coffees were processed by two ways; boiled-roasted-ground and roasted-ground. In raw peeled acorns and acorn coffees prepared by two different processes were analyzed their mineral compositions by ICP-AES. Macronutrients (P, Ca, K, Mg and S), micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Mn and Zn) and heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Ni and Pb) were determined in the samples. Results: According to analysis results, raw peeled acorns and acorn coffees prepared by different ways had different mineral compositions. Processing affected mineral composition, difference among the processing changed by minerals. Compared by other herbal coffees and their raw materials, raw peeled acorn and two acorn coffee product had lower mineral composition. Heavy metal concentrations in analyzed acorn and acorn coffee samples were much lower than that the acceptable limits for herbs and spices by WHO. Conclusion: Our results showed that acorn coffee, as a novel healthy drink, had useful minerals and lower composition by hazardous heavy metals. Having useful minerals and lower heavy metal concentrations both acorn coffee types could be consumed in safe and probable health benefits can be obtained these traditional herbal coffees according to consumer preferences. Further studies should be done their health benefits and toxicological effects for human health as safe food.

Key words: Acorn Coffee, Functional Food, Herbal Coffee, Minerals, Quercus Coccifera L.