Oak Kernels—Volatile Constituents and Coffee-Like Beverages

Modern consumers are much aware of potential health benefits of food and food ingredients. The food industry has been constrained to develop new products with improved sensory, nutritive and functional characteristics. In this work a potential use of English (Quercus robur) and Turkish oak (Quercus cerris) kernels as functional food components was estimated. Volatiles from native and roasted kernels were isolated using continuous hydro distillation with CH2Cl2 and analyzed with GC/MS. Coffee-like beverages were prepared from roasted kernels of both species and a sensory assessment was conducted. In the native samples the main compounds were beta-eudesmol and palmitic acid (39.9 and 24.9%, respectively) in Q. robur, and palmitic acid (53.8%) in Q. cerris. In the roasted samples the main compounds were furans: furfural (51.7 and 60.6%) and 5-methyl-furfural (8.6 and 9.4%, respectively). Coffee-like beverages from roasted oak samples were evaluated for sensory properties gaining high scores for appearance, with satisfying taste and fullness. The presented results, along with previous findings on substantial antioxidant and antiradical activities of English and Turkish Oak kernels, draw attention to these easy available, cheap, but neglected native raw materials as valuable functional food components. Further investigations on this matter are warranted.