Quality Evaluation of Three Kinds of Hickories Based on Grey Relational Analysis and Entropy-Weight Theory

In this paper, the nutritional ingredient, aroma component, and texture of three kinds of hickories, including American hickory, Chinese Linan hickory, and Chinese Hunan hickory, were tested by instruments. The quality of different hickory varieties was analyzed at three levels by using the grey entropy correlation analysis, namely, the single nutrient composition analysis; nutritional composition and texture analysis; nutrient composition, texture, and aroma analysis. Through the analysis of nutritional composition, American hickory gets the highest score (80.6945), followed by Linan hickory (74.9987), and Hunan hickory has the lowest score (58.5925). Through the analysis of nutrition composition and texture, Linan hickory has the highest score (80.89), American hickory is the second (71.77), and Hunan hickory is last (61.62). Through the analysis of nutrition composition, texture and aroma, Linan hickory has the highest score (75.91), followed by American hickory (74.17), and Hunan hickory has the lowest score (64.20). Finally, the comprehensive evaluation of Linan hickory quality index score is the highest. The main factors contributing to the high score of Linan hickory include superior fatty acid spectrum, aminogram and higher initial chewing hardness, moderate crispness of secondary chewing, optimal palatability, and unique aroma components ((S)-2-methyl-1-butanol, 3-methyl-2-pentene, (+/−)-2-methylbutyric acid methyl ester ethyl butyrate, ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, methyl phthalate, decene, (1S)-(−)-β-pinene). The research results provide a basis for consumers to understand the quality differences of different hickories.