CHARACTERIZATION OF CHEESTNUT SHELL

Abstract

The outer brownish shell (pericarp) that remained after the cottony structure was removed inside the sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) fruit shell was characterized chemically and morphology. The study was focused on two ways; first is gravimetric analyses to determine main chemical composition of chesnut shell such as holocellulose, ?-cellulose, and klason lignin and the second way was analytical analyses to identify the extractive composition and the amount. Main lignocellulosic compounds were determined as 45.3% holocellulose, 29.2% ?-cellulose, 42.5% klason lignin. Extractive content was also 3.2%. Analytical results showed that MeOH:Water (95:5 v/v) extract contained 23.8% fructose, 16% glucitol, and 11.2% glucose. Gallic acid was found only 5% in the acetone: water extract. The fiber length, fiber width, lumen width, and fiber wall thickness of the samples were measured as 1.52 mm, 21.67 µm, 14.25 µm, and 3.71 µm, respectively. Chestnut shells, which are morphologically similar to hardwood fibers and contain a high amount of klason lignin, have significant potential for use as raw materials in different industries.