Biochemical characterization of leaves, burs and shells of Bouche de Betizac chestnut cultivar.

Bouche de Betizac is the French-Japanese hybrid Castanea sativa x Castanea crenata and, even if it is pollen sterile, it is a consistent producer of large crops of big nuts that are easy to peel and are preferred for their appetizing flavour and taste by consumers. This cultivar is well adapted to growth in Europe, North America and Asia and it has demonstrated to survive to cold season, producing chestnuts with excellent yield and nut quality. The most beneficial characteristics of Bouche de Betizac are over all its resistance to the Asian gall wasp insect and to leaf anthracnose caused by Phytophthora spp. Many extracts from chestnut tree components, including fruit, burns, leaves, etc. might be used for human health diseases prevention. It has been demonstrated that chestnut leaves contain phenolic compounds that possess antioxidant properties with antiradical activity and, several of them, antibacterial action. The aim of this work was to perform a biochemical characterization of leaves, burns and shells (outer and inner) of the Bouche de Betizac chestnuts. Samples of this variety from an orchard located in "Roccamonfina Regional Park" in Southern Italy, were utilized for the analysis. The extracts from all chestnut components were evaluated for the antioxidant power, total phenolic, ortho-diphenolic, flavonoid, and tannin contents to assess the presence of bioactive molecules. The results obtained showed that inner shells possess twice as antioxidant activity of the other chestnut components and the higher phenolic compounds content followed by leaves and burns. A comparison with the literature data is difficult due to the differences in cultivar, stadium of fruits harvesting and local climate conditions. However, at our knowledge, this is the first study reporting the biochemical characterization of the Bouche de Betizac hybrid. Nevertheless it represents a dangerous risk for biodiversity of Italian chestnut cultivar, considering its resistance to several pests and diseases, and the great capacity of adaption to growth in a wide range of climate condition, the results obtained are very promising.