Chemical compositions, functional properties, and microstructure of defatted macadamia flours

The objective of this research was to study the chemical compositions, functional properties, and microstructure of partially defatted flours (PDF, 12–15% fat, dry basis (db)) and totally defatted flours (TDF, 1% db fat) from three macadamia cultivars, PY 741, DS 344, and DS 800, grown in Northern Thailand. The defatted flours were high in protein (30.40–36.45% db) and carbohydrate (49.29–57.09% db). For each macadamia cultivar, while emulsion activities and emulsion stabilities of the TDF tended not to be different from those of the PDF (p > 0.05), TDF had significantly greater water absorption capacities (WAC), oil absorption capacities and foaming capacities (FC), but had significantly lower foaming stability (FS) than the PDF (p ⩽ 0.05). The TDF from PY 741 cultivar possessed the highest WAC and FC but the lowest FS. The variation in the functional properties of the defatted flours could mainly arise from the difference in the quantity and characteristics of the proteins in the flours. Structure determination of macadamia flours showed that the proteins bodies and starch granules were embedded in kernel tissues. The starch granules were oval and approximately 10 μm in diameter.