Öz
Objective: In this study, it was aimed to determine the differences in color characteristics of hazelnut flours obtained from organic and conventional hazelnuts, which play an important role in consumer preferences.
Materials and Methods: Six commercially important hazelnut cultivars (Çakıldak, Foşa, Mincane, Palaz, Sivri, Tombul) were selected. The samples were collected from Western (Düzce), Middle (Samsun, Ordu) and Eastern Black Sea (Trabzon) regions. The hazelnuts which were separated from their husks and dried in the sun were unshelled by hand and turned into flour. L (brightness), a (redness) and b (yellowness) values of the samples were determined on the HunterLab Color Flex EZ color measurement device, and then the chroma value (C), hue angle (h°), total color difference (ΔE) values were calculated. Statistical tests were performed using SAS-JAMP v10.0 software. One-way ANOVA was used to determine significant differences between levels, and LSD test was used for comparisons of multiple means.
Results: According to the study results, L values of organic nuts were higher than conventioanals (P ˂0.05) and no difference was found between a, b, chroma and hue values (P ˃0.05). Cultivars was found to be effective on L and a (P ˂0.05), Tombul was found to be brighter than other cultivars, Çakıldak has the highest a value. It has been determined that the total color difference (ΔE) between the production methods is perceptible
Conclusion: According to these results, organic hazelnut flours are thought will have a positive effect on consumer preferences since they have a brighter appearance.