Effects of Storage on Carbohydrates and Lipids in the Gingko Nut

The quality of the gingko nut is known to be adversely affected by unfavorable storage conditions. To elucidate the effects on the nut of time and temperature of storage, compositional changes in carbohydrates and lipids in the nut were investigated. Gingko nuts were stored for six months at three different temperatures, 5°C, 20-35°C, and 37°C, and analyses were made of the moisture, phytic acid, tatal pectin and total lipid and fatty acid contents of the nuts. The nuts stored at 5°C retained a good quality with minirnal campositional changes evident at the end of six months. In contrast, however, almost all the nuts stored at 20-35°C and at 37°C showed mamked deterioration. This deteriorations was characterized by a considerable decrease in the moisture and total lipid contents, as well as a reduction in the amounts of phytic acid and linoleic acid in the lipids, but a constant amount of total pectin was maintained in the nuts during storage at all three temperatures.