The sodium and fat content of salted and unsalted, dry and oil roasted pecans and pecans used in ice cream

The purpose of this study was to assess salted and unsalted, dry and oil roasted pecans to determine the nutritional and sensory impacts fat and sodium have on ice cream and snacks, as well as the amount of pecans added to ice cream and the differences between sodium methodologies. Five sizes of pecans were dry or oil roasted and then applied with flour salt at 0, 1, 2, and 3% by weight. Fat and sodium analysis values were used to calculate nutritional impact. Sensory qualities of pecans, alone or incorporated into vanilla ice cream, were measured by a nine-point Likert scale evaluating salt level likeability. Oil roasted pecans had significantly more fat than raw and dry roasted pecans. Salted dry and oil roasted pecans had significantly more sodium than raw and 0% dry and oil roasted pecans; 3% dry and oil roasted pecans were significantly different as well. Upon assessment of sodium methods, it was observed that Commercial Lab A and Commercial Lab B used different AOCS methods and received a different number of samples. Comparison of results indicated that the CEM fat content values were not accurate to USDA values. Sodium content for Commercial Lab B was less in 3% dry and oil roasted, but was slightly more in unsalted and raw pecans compared to USDA values. Commercial Lab A values were about 200g more than the USDA levels sodium content for raw pecans and about 450g more for 2% salted, but varied slightly in fat content for both types. The nutritional impact on ice cream by the addition of 0 and 3% dry and oil roasted pecans increased the fat content, while sodium was raised slightly with unsalted pecans and almost doubled with salted pecans. Adding flour salt to pecans as a snack results in less salt used, less sodium consumed, and less loose salt. Sensory evaluation indicated that salting pecans at 1% by weight is most preferred. Labels will need to be altered in order to reflect nutritional modifications and consumer preference.