Genus of plants

The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus Castanea, in the beech syndicate Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The appoint besides refers to the edible nuts they produce. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ]

Reading: Chestnut – Wikipedia

Species [edit ]

Chestnuts belong to the family Fagaceae, which besides includes oaks and beeches. The four independent species groups are normally known as american english, [ 4 ] european, chinese, and japanese chestnuts .
The unrelated knight chestnuts ( genus Aesculus ) are not true chestnuts but are named for producing nuts of similar appearance that are mildly poisonous to humans. They should not be confused with water chestnuts, which are tubers of an aquatic herbaceous plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] early species normally mistaken for chestnut trees are the chestnut oak ( Quercus prinus ) and the american english beech ( Fagus grandifolia ), [ 9 ] [ 10 ] both of which are besides in the Fagaceae. Brazil nuts, called “ Brasil chestnuts ” ( “ castañas de Brasil ” in spanish ) or “ Chestnuts from Pará ” ( “ castanha-do-pará ” in Portuguese ) are besides unrelated .

etymology [edit ]

Female chestnut flowers male chestnut flowers The name “ chestnut ” is derived from an earlier english condition “ chesten testis ”, which descends from the Old French bible chastain ( Modern French, châtaigne ). [ 11 ] The french word in turn derives from Latin Castanea ( besides the scientific name of the tree ), which traces to the Ancient Greek parole κάστανον ( sweet chestnut ). [ 12 ] A potential beginning of the Greek give voice is the ancient town of Kastanea in Thessaly. [ 5 ] The town credibly took its name, though, from the trees growing around it. [ 13 ] In the Mediterranean climate zone, chestnut trees are rarer in Greece because the chalky territory is not conducive to the tree ‘s increase. Kastania is located on one of the relatively few aqueous or siliceous outcrops. They grow indeed abundantly there that their presence would have determined the identify ‘s appoint. [ 14 ] still others take the name as coming from the greek mention of Sardis glans ( Sardis acorn ) – Sardis being the capital of Lydia, Asia Minor, from where the fruit had spread. [ 15 ] The name is cited twice in the King James Version of the Bible. In one exemplify, Jacob puts peel off twigs in the water system troughs to promote healthy offspring of his livestock. [ 16 ] Although it may indicate another tree, it indicates the fruit was a local staple food in the early seventeenth century. [ 13 ] These synonyms are or have been in use : Fagus Castanea ( used by Linnaeus in first gear edition of Species Plantarum, 1753 ), [ 17 ] Sardian testis, Jupiter ‘s addict, husked en, and spanish chestnut ( U.S. ). [ 18 ]

description [edit ]

Chestnut trees are of moderate increase rate ( for the chinese chestnut tree ) to aggressive for American and european species. [ 18 ] Their mature heights vary from the smallest species of chinkapins, frequently shrubby, [ 19 ] to the giant of by american forests, C. dentata that could reach 60 m. Between these extremes are found the japanese chestnut ( C. crenata ) at 10 thousand average ; [ note 1 ] followed by the chinese chestnut ( C. mollissima ) at about 15 m, then the european chestnut ( C. sativa ) around 30 megabyte. [ 10 ] The Chinese and more so the japanese chestnuts are both often multileadered and wide-spreading, [ 10 ] whereas european and particularly american species tend to grow very raise when planted among others, with little tapered of their columniform trunks, which are firm set and massive. When standing on their own, they spread on the sides and develop broad, rounded, dense crowns at maturity. [ 18 ] The leaf of the European and American species has striking yellow fall color. [ 21 ] C. sativa) Bark – sweet chestnut ( Its bark is smooth when young, [ 22 ] of a vinous maroon or red-brown color for the American chestnut, [ 13 ] grey for the European chestnut. With old age, American species ‘ bark becomes grey and dark, slurred, and deeply furrowed ; the furrows run longitudinally, and tend to twist around the luggage compartment as the corner ages ; it sometimes reminds one of a big cable with writhe strands. [ 18 ]
C. sativa male male catkins ( pale buffet ) and female catkins ( green, spinous, partially hidden by leaves ) The leaves are elementary, egg-shaped or lanceolate, 10–30 curium long and 4–10 curium wide, with sharply pointed, widely spaced teeth, with shallow rounded sinuates between. [ 7 ] The flowers follow the leaves, appearing in late spring or early summer [ 18 ] or into July. [ 19 ] They are arranged in long catkins of two kinds, [ 19 ] with both kinds being borne on every corner. [ 13 ] Some catkins are made of only male flowers, which mature first. Each flower has eight stamens, or 10 to 12 for C. mollissima. [ 23 ] The ripe pollen carries a heavy, odoriferous smell [ 19 ] that some people find excessively fresh or unpleasant. other catkins have these pollen-bearing flowers, but besides carry near the twig from which these spring, little clusters of female or fruit-producing flowers. Two or three flowers together form a four-lobed bristly calybium, which ultimately grows completely together to make the brown hull, or husk, covering the fruits. [ 18 ] Chestnut flowers are not self-compatible, so two trees are required for pollination. All Castanea species readily hybridize with each other. The fruit is contained in a barbed ( very sharp ) cupule 5–11 curium in diameter, besides called “ bur ” or “ burr “. [ 24 ] The burr are much paired or clustered on the ramify [ 19 ] and contain one to seven nuts according to the different species, varieties, and cultivars. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 25 ] [ 26 ] Around the time the fruits reach maturity, the bur turn amber and split open in two or four sections. They can remain on the corner longer than they hold the fruit, but more much achieve complete opening and release the fruits only after having fallen on the ground ; open is partially due to soil humidity. [ 6 ] The chestnut fruit has a pointed end with a small tuft at its tip ( called “ flare ” in italian [ 6 ] ), and at the other end, a hilus – a pale brown attachment scratch. In many varieties, the yield is flattened on one or two sides. It has two skins. The first one is a hard, glazed, brown out hull or husk, called the pericarpus ; [ 27 ] the industry calls this the “ peel off ”. [ 6 ] Underneath the pericarpus is another, thin hide, called the pellicle or testa. [ 27 ] The pellicle close adheres to the seed itself, following the grooves normally present at the surface of the yield. These grooves are of variable sizes and depths according to the species and variety. The fruit inside these shows two cotyledons with a cream-colored flesh throughout, [ 8 ] except in some varieties which show only one cotyledon, and whose testa is entirely slightly or not intruded at all. normally, these varieties have entirely one large yield per bur, good rounded ( no categoric boldness ) and which is called “ marron ” [ 6 ] ( marron de Lyon in France, marron di Mugello in Italy, or paragon ). Chestnut fruit has no epigeal dormancy and germinate right upon falling to the ground in the fall, with the roots emerging from the seed right away and the leaves and stem the following jump. Because the seeds lack a coat or internal food provide, they lose viability soon after ripening and must be planted immediately. The superior fruit varieties among european chestnuts have good size, fresh preference, and easy-to-remove inner skins. [ 28 ] [ 29 ] american chestnuts are normally very little ( around 5 g ), but sweet-tasting with easy-to-remove pellicles. Some japanese varieties have very large nuts ( around 40 deoxyguanosine monophosphate ), with typically difficult-to-remove pellicles. chinese chestnut pellicles are normally easily to remove, and their sizes vary greatly according to the varieties, although normally smaller than the japanese chestnut. [ 10 ]

history [edit ]

eurasia [edit ]

It has been a staple food in southern Europe, Turkey, and southwestern and easterly Asia [ 8 ] [ 30 ] for millennium, largely replacing cereals where these would not grow well, if at all, in cragged Mediterranean areas. [ 31 ] Evidence of its cultivation by world is found since around 2000 BC. [ 32 ] Alexander the Great and the Romans planted chestnut trees across Europe while on their assorted campaigns. A greek army is said to have survived their retreat from Asia Minor in 401–399 BC thanks to their stores of chestnuts. [ 33 ] Ancient Greeks, such as Dioscorides and Galen, wrote of chestnuts to comment on their medicative properties—and of the flatulence induced by eating besides much of it. [ 14 ] To the early Christians, chestnuts symbolized chastity. [ 16 ] Until the introduction of the potato, whole forest-dwelling communities which had scarce access to wheat flour relied on chestnuts as their main informant of carbohydrates. [ 8 ] In some parts of Italy, a patty made of chestnuts is used as a substitute for potatoes. [ 5 ] In 1583, Charles Estienne and Jean Liébault wrote, “ an eternity of people live on nothing else but ( the chestnut ) ”. [ 34 ] In 1802, an italian agronomist said of Tuscany that “ the fruit of the chestnut tree is practically the exclusive subsistence of our highlanders ”, [ 35 ] while in 1879 it was said that it about entirely feed whole populations for half the class, as “ a impermanent but arrant substitution for cereals ”. [ 36 ] In Britain, Boundary records compiled in the reign of King John already showed the celebrated Tortworth Chestnut in South Gloucestershire, as a landmark ; it was besides known by the same name of “ Great Chestnut of Tortworth ” in the days of Stephen. This tree measured over 50 feet ( 15 meter ) in circumference at 5 feet ( 1.5 meter ) from the footing in 1720. The Hundred Horse Chestnut in the chestnut forests on Mount Etna is the oldest living chestnut corner and is said to be even larger. Chestnut trees peculiarly flourish in the Mediterranean basin. [ 18 ] In 1584, the governor of Genoa, which dominated Corsica, ordered all the farmers and landowners to plant four trees annual, among which was a chestnut tree – plus olive, libyan islamic fighting group and mulberry trees. many communities owe their origin and former richness to the ensuing chestnut woods. [ 37 ] In France, the marron glacé, a candied chestnut involving 16 different processes in a typically french fudge dash, is always served at Christmas and New Year ‘s meter. [ 16 ] In Modena, Italy, they are soaked in wine before roasting and serving, [ 16 ] and are besides traditionally eaten on Saint Simon ‘s Day in Tuscany. [ 33 ] In the Romagna region, roasted chestnuts are frequently served with a traditional wine, the Cagnina di Romagna. It is traditional to eat roast chestnuts in Portugal on St. Martin ‘s Day. Their popularity declined during the last few centuries, partially due to their repute of “ food for poor people ”. [ 38 ] many people did not want to take chestnut bread as “ bread “ because chestnut flour does not rise. Some slandered chestnut products in such words as the bread which “ gives a sallow complexion ” written in 1770, [ 39 ] or in 1841 “ this kind of mortar which is called a soup ”. [ 40 ] The death decades ‘ cosmopolitan refilling may have profited from the huge reforestation efforts started in the 1930s in the United States to establish varieties of C. sativa which may be tolerant to chestnut blight, american samoa well as to relieve the song on grain supplies. The independent region in Italy for chestnut production is the Mugello region ; in 1996, the European Community granted the yield Protected Geographic Indication ( equivalent to the french Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée ) status to the Mugello fresh chestnut. It is markedly angelic, peels easily, is not excessively floury or astringent, and has notes of vanilla, hazelnut, and, more subtly, clean bread. There is no unpleasant aroma, such as yeast, fungus, mold or paper, which sometimes occur with other chestnuts. [ 41 ] The independent regions in France for chestnut output are the départements of Ardèche, with the celebrated “ Châtaigne d’Ardèche ” ( A.O.C ), of the Var ( Eastern Provence ), of the Cévennes ( Gard and Lozère départements ) and of the Lyon region. France annually produces over 1,000 metric tons, but however imports about 8,000 system of measurement tons, chiefly from Italy. [ 42 ] In Portugal ‘s archipelago of Madeira, chestnut liquor is a traditional beverage, and it is gaining popularity with the tourists and in continental Portugal. [ 43 ]

asia [edit ]

Always served as part of the New Year ‘s menu in Japan, chestnuts represent both success and heavily times—mastery and strength. [ 16 ] The japanese chestnut ( kuri ) was in polish before rice [ 44 ] and the chinese chestnut ( C. mollissima ) possibly for 2,000 to 6,000 years. [ 10 ] During british colonial rule in the mid-1700s to 1947, the sugared chestnut (C. sativa) was wide introduced in the temperate parts of the indian subcontinent, chiefly in the lower- to middle Himalayas. They are widely found in British-founded hill stations in northern India, and to a lesser extent in Bhutan and Nepal. They are chiefly used as an ornamental tree and are found in about all British-founded botanic gardens and official governmental compounds ( such as larger official residences ) in moderate parts of the indian subcontinent. China has about 300 chestnut cultivars. furthermore, the ‘Dandong ‘ chestnut ( belonging to the japanese chestnut C. crenata ) is a major cultivar in Liaoning Province. [ 45 ] In the Philippines, the endemic talakatak or Philippine chestnut ( Castanopsis philippinensis ) is not cultivated commercially, thought its nuts are harvested from the wild and consumed locally. [ 46 ] [ 47 ] Imported chestnuts ( known as kastanyas in Tagalog, from spanish castañas ) are traditionally sold as street food in the Philippines during the Christmas temper. [ 48 ] [ 49 ] [ 50 ]

North America [edit ]

native Americans were eating the american chestnut species, chiefly C. dentata and some others, long before european immigrants introduced their stock to America, and before the arrival of chestnut blight. [ 33 ] In some places, such as the appalachian Mountains, one-fourth of hardwoods were chestnuts. Mature trees frequently grew heterosexual and branch-free for 50 feet ( 15 thousand ), astir to 100 feet, averaging up to 5 ft in diameter. For three centuries, most barns and homes east of the Mississippi River were made from it. [ 51 ] In 1911, the food script The Grocer’s Encyclopedia noted that a cannery in Holland included in its “ vegetables-and-meat ” ready-cooked combinations, a “ chestnuts and sausages ” casserole beside the more authoritative “ gripe and onions ” and “ green pea and veal ”. This celebrated the chestnut polish that would bring unharmed villages out in the woods for three weeks each fall ( and keep them busy all winter ), and deplored the miss of food diverseness in the United States ‘s shop class shelves. [ 5 ] soon after that, however, the american chestnuts were closely wiped out by chestnut blight. The discovery of the blight fungus on some asian chestnut trees planted on Long Island, New York, was made populace in 1904. Within 40 years, the closely four billion-strong American chestnut population in North America was devastated ; [ 52 ] merely a few clumps of trees remained in Michigan, Wisconsin, California and the Pacific Northwest. [ 33 ] due to disease, American chestnut wood about disappeared from the market for decades, although quantities can calm be obtained as reform baseball bat. [ 53 ] nowadays, they merely survive as one trees separated from any others ( very rare ), and as living stumps, or “ stools ”, with lone a few growing adequate shoots to produce seeds concisely before dying. This is merely enough to preserve the genetic material used to engineer an american chestnut tree with the minimal necessary genetic remark from any of the disease-immune Asiatic species. Efforts started in the 1930s are still ongoing to repopulate the state with these trees, in Massachusetts [ 54 ] and many places elsewhere in the United States. [ 55 ] In the 1970s, geneticist Charles Burnham began back-breeding asian chestnut into american chestnut populations to confer blight resistance with the minimum difference in genes. [ 56 ] In the 1950s, the Dunstan chestnut was developed in Greensboro, N.C., and constitutes the majority of blight-free chestnuts produced in the United States per annum. today, the demand for the crackpot outstrips supply. The United States imported 4,056 measured tons of european in-shell chestnuts worth $ 10 million in 2007. [ 57 ] The U.S. chestnut diligence is in its infancy, producing less than 1 % of sum world product. Since the mid-20th hundred, most of the US imports are from Southern Italy, with the big, meaty, and lavishly season Sicilian chestnuts being considered among the best quality for bulk sale and supermarket retail. Some imports come from Portugal and France. The following two largest sources of imports are China and South Korea. [ 57 ] The french varieties of marrons are highly favored and sold at high prices in epicure shops. [ 16 ] A survey of the sector in 2005 found that U.S. producers are chiefly part-timers diversifying an existing agricultural business, or hobbyists. [ 58 ] Another late survey indicates that investing in a new grove takes 13 years to break even, at least within the current australian market. [ 59 ] Starting a minor operation requires a relatively low initial investment ; this is a component in the small size of the show production operations, with one-half of them being between 3 and 10 acres ( 12,000 and 40,000 m2 ). Another determining factor in the modest productiveness of the sector is that most orchards have been created less than ten years ago, so experience young trees which are as immediately barely entering commercial production. [ 58 ] Assuming a 10 kilogram ( 22 pound ) move over for a 10-year-old tree is a authentic conservative appraisal, though some especial specimens of that senesce have yielded 100 kg ( 220 pound ). [ 59 ] So, most producers earn less than $ 5,000 per year, with a third of them not having sold anything then far. [ 58 ] furthermore, the plantings have therefore far been by and large of chinese species, but the products are not promptly available. [ 58 ] The american english Chestnut Foundation presently recommends waiting a while more before large-scale implant, [ citation needed ] because the organization and its associates ( the American Chestnut Cooperators ‘ Foundation and many others from education, inquiry and diligence sectors contributing to the program ) are in the last stages of developing a variety that is vitamin a close as possible to the American chestnut, while having incorporated the blight-resistant gene of the Asiatic species. Considering the extra advantage that chestnut trees can be easily grown organically, [ 58 ] and assuming the development of brands in the market and everything else being equal, home-grown products would reach higher prices than imports, [ citation needed ] the high volume of which indicates a market with expanding prospects. [ 58 ] As of 2008, the monetary value for chestnuts sold fresh in the shell ranges from $ 1.50/lb ( $ 3.30/kg ) wholesale to about $ 5/lb ( $ 11/kg ) retail, depending chiefly on the size. [ 57 ] [ 58 ]

Australia, New Zealand [edit ]

The Australian gold rush of the 1850s and 1860s led to the first recorded plantings of european chestnut trees, brought from Europe by settlers. [ 10 ] Along the years, most chestnut tree plantations were C. sativa sprout, which is silent the dominant species. Some of these remain today. Some trees in northerly Victoria are around 120 years erstwhile and up to 60 meter improbable. Chestnuts turn well in southwest western Australia, which has cold winters and warm to hot summers. [ 8 ] As of 2008, the state has closely 350 growers, annually producing around 1,200 measured tons of chestnuts, of which 80 % come from northeast Victoria. The produce is by and large sold to the domestic fresh fruit market. Chestnuts are lento gaining popularity in Australia. A considerable increase in product is expected in the following ten years, due to the increase in commercial plantings during the concluding 15 [ 4 ] to 25 years. [ 8 ] By army for the liberation of rwanda, the most common species in Australia is the european chestnut, but little numbers of the early species, a well as some hybrids have been planted. [ 4 ] The japanese chestnut ( C. crenata ) does well in wet and humid weather and in hot summers ( about 30 °C ) ; and was introduced to New Zealand in the early on 1900s, more thus in the upper North Island region. [ 10 ]

nutrition [edit ]

Chestnuts leave from the average for culinary nuts, as they have little protein or fat ; their calories come chiefly from carbohydrates. Fresh chestnut fruits provide about 820 kJ ( 200 kcal ) of food energy per 100 g of edible parts, which is much lower than walnuts, almonds, other nuts, and dried fruit ( about 2,500 kJ or 600 kcal per 100 gravitational constant ). [ 41 ] [ 60 ] [ 10 ] In some areas, fresh chestnut trees are called “ bread trees ”. [ 41 ] [ 61 ] When chestnuts are merely starting to ripen, the fruits are by and large starch and are firm under finger pressure from the gamey urine content. As the chestnuts ripen, the starch is slowly converted into sugars, and moisture message decreases. Upon pressing the ripe chestnut, a slight ‘give ‘ can be felt ; the hull is not thus tense, and space occurs between it and the pulp of the fruit. [ 62 ] Raw chestnuts are 60 % water and control 44 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of protein, one gram of fatness, supplying 200 calories in a 100 gram reference sum ( mesa ). Chestnuts provide some B vitamins and dietary minerals in meaning content ( board ). Their carbohydrate contented compares with that of wheat and rice. [ 38 ] Chestnuts have twice vitamin a much starch as the potato on an as-is basis. [ 33 ] They contain about 8 % of diverse sugars, chiefly sucrose, glucose, fructose, and in lesser amounts, stachyose and raffinose, which are fermented in the lower gut, producing natural gas. [ 6 ] Chestnuts are among the few “ nuts ” that contain vitamin C, with 48 % of the Daily Value in a 100 gram helping ( table ). The amount of vitamin C decreases by approximately 40 % upon inflame ( typically, the vitamin is decreased or destroyed in heated foods ). Fresh chestnuts contain approximately 52 % body of water by system of weights, which evaporates relatively cursorily during storage. They can lose arsenic a lot as 1 % of weight unit in one day at 20 °C ( 68 °F ) and 70 % relative humidity. [ 6 ]

cultivation, pests, and diseases [edit ]

Climate and seasonal worker germination hertz [edit ]

Chestnuts produce a better crop when subjected to chill temperatures during the dormant menstruation. Frosts and snowfalls are beneficial rather than harmful to the trees. [ 8 ] [ 59 ] The abeyant plant is identical cold-hardy in Britain, [ 63 ] to the Royal Horticultural Society ‘s H6 boldness military rank, to -20 °C. [ 64 ] Chestnut is audacious to USDA zone 5, which is −29 °C ( −20 °F ) lower in average minimal temperature than London in zone 9. [ 65 ] The young emergence in bounce, evening on mature plants, however, is frost -tender ; [ 63 ] [ 65 ] bud -burst is late than most other fruit trees, so late frosts can be damaging to young buds. [ 59 ] Trees can be found at altitudes between 200 and 1000 megabyte above ocean level ; [ 59 ] some mention between 300 and 750 thousand altitude, [ 66 ] while the celebrated Hundred Horse Chestnut on Mount Etna stands at 1200 metres. [ 67 ] They can tolerate nautical exposure, although growth is reduced. [ 65 ] Seeds germinate in belated winter or early bounce, [ 63 ] [ 65 ] but the liveliness distance is shortstop. If keep damp, they can be stored in a cool place for a few months, but must be checked regularly for signs of germination. [ 65 ] low temperature prolongs dormancy. [ 6 ] Sowing them a soon as advanced is better, either in cold frames or seedbeds outdoors, [ 68 ] where they can be left in situ for one to two years before being planted in their permanent wave positions, [ 65 ] or in pots, where the plants can be put out into their permanent positions in summer or fall. They must be protected from the cold in their first winter, [ 63 ] and besides from mice and squirrels. [ 65 ] Chestnuts are considered self-sterile, [ 65 ] [ 69 ] sol at least two trees are needed for pollination. [ 62 ]

dirty requirements [edit ]

Castanea grows best in a land with good drain and adequate moisture. [ 59 ] [ 62 ] The tree prefers sloping, deep soils ; it does not like shallow or heavy soils with impermeable, clay subsoils. [ 59 ] The chinese chestnut prefers a fat, well-drained dirt, but it grows well in fairly dry, rocky, or poor soils. [ 70 ]

Although Castanea can grow in very acerb territory, [ 65 ] and while these soils are reasonably well tolerated, the preferable range is from ph 5.5-6.0. [ 59 ] It does not grow good on alkaline soils, such as chalk, [ 12 ] [ 65 ] but thrives on soils such as those derived from granite, sandstone, or schist. [ 12 ] On alkaline soils, chestnut trees can be grown by grafting them onto oak rootstocks. [ 53 ]
recently cleared nation is best avoided to help resist the root bunk, Armillaria mellia. [ 59 ]

Sun exposure [edit ]

Castanea likes a full sun situation. [ 62 ] An experiment with C. dentata seedlings in Ohio confirmed the motivation for sun for optimum growth. [ 71 ] The cigarette of the tree is sometimes painted with white key to protect the tree from sunburn until it has developed enough canopy. [ 59 ] Wide spacing between the trees encourages humble, broad crowns with utmost vulnerability to sunshine to increase yield output. Where chestnut trees touch, about no fruit is produced. current industrial implant spacings can range from 7 x 7 to 20 x 20 m. The close plantings, which are more democratic, mean flying increases in short-run production, but big pruning or even tree removal is required later. [ 59 ]

Watering [edit ]

The optimum rain for chestnut trees is 800 millimeter ( 31 in ) or more, ideally in even distribution throughout the year. Mulching during summer is recommended. Rainfall below 700 millimeter ( 28 in ) per year motivation be complemented with, for exercise, a drip irrigation system. This should water system the territory at the out half of the circle formed by the dribble line [ 59 ] to encourage root increase. independently from annual rain, watering young trees is recommended at least during summer and early fall. [ 59 ] once established, they resist droughts well. [ 12 ] [ 26 ] [ 72 ] [ 73 ]

conservation [edit ]

In addition to being consumed fresh, chestnuts can besides be canned, pureed, or preserved in sugar or syrup ( marrons glacés ). Shelled and cooked nuts should be covered, refrigerated, and used within three–four days. Cooked chestnuts, either unharmed, chopped, or puree, may be frozen in an airtight container and held up to nine months. Because of their high water content, transpiration rates, and attendant loss weight, the nuts react as fresh fruits ( not as nuts ). They should be kept cool at all times, including in shops when on display for sale. [ 59 ] To preserve their freshness for a few months with no artificial refrigeration, the chestnuts can be soaked in cold water for about 20 hours immediately after harvest, after which they are dried in the nuance, then layered in dry sandpaper. [ 38 ]
Chestnuts behave similarly to seeds in that they produce identical little ethylene, and their respiration rate is depleted, varying between 5 and 20 mg/ ( kg·h ) depending on the temperature. [ 6 ]

Pests [edit ]

Mammals and birds [edit ]

Grey squirrels strip bark, from when the tree is about eight years old and onward through the life of the tree.[59]
Rabbits and wallabies can do great damage to young trees, which need guarding by some fence or by wrapping the tree trunk in sisal or other appropriate material. Deer and kangaroos can also be troublesome.[59]
Cattle and horses may require temporary fencing to prevent them from damaging fallen chestnuts at harvest time.[59]
The sulphur-crested cockatoo can damage branches up to 10 mm in diameter by carrying out “beak maintenance” on young trees.[59]
Rosellas can be troublesome at harvest time.[59]
Shrews, squirrels, mice, and other critters often eat the chestnut seed after it has sprouted within the first, and even second years of growth. Some avoid this by removing the chestnut seed from the stem.[74]

Insects [edit ]

Diseases [edit ]

Chestnut blight fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica) (formerly Endothia parasitica) affects chestnut trees. The Eastern Asian species have coevolved with this disease and are moderately to very resistant to it, while the European and North American species, not having been exposed to it in the past, have little or no resistance.[12] Early in the 20th century, chestnut blight destroyed about four billion American chestnut trees,[52] and reduced the most important tree throughout the East Coast to an insignificant presence. The American chinkapins are also very susceptible to chestnut blight. The European and West Asian chestnuts are susceptible, but less so than the American species.[12] The resistant species (particularly Japanese and Chinese chestnut, but also Seguin’s chestnut and Henry’s chestnut) have been used in breeding programs in the U.S. to create hybrids with the American chestnut that are also disease-resistant.[12]
The bark miner Spulerina simploniella (Lepidoptera: Gracilariidae) was found in intensively managed chestnut coppices in Greece, but not in orchards. The larvae (and the rain) may be agents in the spread of the disease. They mine under the thin periderm of young trees up to 10 years old, while the stem bark is still smooth. Rain during the pupation period (around the last week of May and first two weeks of June), and the actions of the larvae, may collude for conidiospores to come into contact with the freshly exposed phloem, thus causing cankers.[79]
Ink disease also appears in a number of other plants. The disease attacks the phloem tissue and the cambium of the roots and root collars about 10–20 cm above ground. Wet rot settles in as a result. It was named after the ink-black color of the tannic acid becoming (oxidized) after seeping out, but that symptom is not a characteristic of only that disease. The same ink-black color can appear following other types of decays and mechanical injuries that make liquids seep through; these liquids can also oxidize after contact with air. Moreover, with some phytophthoric diseases, no tannic acid is generated. With the ink disease, the leaves turn yellow and later fall off; the fruits remain small, and the nuts prematurely drop out of the burrs. These dry and remain on the trees throughout winter. In acute cases, root decay makes the trees dry out and wither away.[77] It is caused by Phytophthora cambivora and Phytophthora cinnamomi.[80]
Phytophthora disease is the longest-known chestnut tree disease leading to tree death. Of the two main pathogens for this disease, the one in European chestnuts is known since 1971 to be Phytophthora cambivora. Phytophthora cinnamoni was discovered in chestnut trees in the United States in 1932. Both trigger similar symptoms. Since then, it has also been shown to occur in most European chestnut-growing countries. Differentiating between the two pathogens is difficult. Chemicals seem of little effectiveness. Many countries impose strict prophylactic rules to prevent the spread of the disease.[77]
Melanconis modonia can infect trees through injuries and induce “bark death”. It was first reported in Hungary by Hausz in 1972. The damage is of little consequence in older or stronger trees, but it affects sapling graftings in nurseries. Coryneum perniciosum, one of the two conidium-like side forms of this fungus, occurs on all decayed, ligneous parts of a chestnut tree. The symptoms of infection on young, smooth trunks is similar to that of the chestnut blight fungus Cryphonectria. For this reason, it has persistently been wrongly thought of as the pathogen for ink disease. With Melanconis, the bark sinks in and takes on brownish-red tones, with black, lentil-like multicell conidium bodies and black cone-like stromata breaking through the bark. Unlike with Cryphonectria, though, no orange-colored fruiting bodies are seen. Prevention primarily includes keeping trees in good shape; some further protections against Cryphonectria also help prevent bark death caused by Melanconis.[77]
Chestnut mosaic virus is probably transmitted by the oak aphid Myzocallis castanicola.[78]
Root rot is caused by the honey fungus Armillaria mellia. When planting Castanea, recently cleared land is best avoided to help resist this fungus.[59] The disease is more prevalent on heavier and poorly drained soil types.[10]
Leaf spot is the most common disease for chestnut trees (Mycosphaerella maculiformis). It is known as cylindrosporium leaf spot disease, after its summer conidium form Cylindrosporium castaneae. The pathogens spend the winter in the white spots of the fallen leaves. At spring time, it reinfects the new leaves. In or near June, tiny white spots on the leaves appear, which grow and turn brown over time. At the end of the summer, the spots entirely cover the leaf, which turns yellow. In rainy and humid weather with large temperature fluctuation, the tree loses its leaves. If August is dry and warm, the infected leaves roll up, the arteries twist, and the dead leaves dry on the tree until defoliage. This recurs yearly, though the extent of the damage varies from year to year. Some species are more resistant than others.[77]
Oak mildew is among several foliage diseases of smaller significance for European chestnut growing. It infects the most trees (Microsphaera alphitoides). Younger trees suffer most; their shoots become short-jointed, growth is delayed, and they develop sensitivity to frostbite. In older trees, the fungus usually infects only the tip of the shoots. The pathogens hibernate in the shoots and infect the leaves from there. The fungus grows on the top of the leaves, with the appearance of a coating only in midsummer. The infected leaves’ development slows down or stops, the distance between their vessels shrinks, and the vessels themselves become curly.[77]
In storage rot, breaking the tuft provides the most common entrance for fungal spores during storage. Cyboria, the most diffuse, turns the flesh black and spongy. Other fungi are known, such as Rhizopus, Fusarium, and Colletotrichum.[6] In chestnuts, Colletotrichum disease symptoms may also be called blossom end rot. Browning of the chestnut burs at the blossom end may be a first sign in August. At harvest time, blackening of pointed end of the chestnut shell and kernel indicates infection. The extent of blackening can vary. It can range from a barely visible black tip of the kernel to the whole nut being black. Parts of the nut kernel with no color change remain edible.[81]

Coppicing [edit ]

Most chestnut wood output is done by brush systems, cut on a 12-year rotation to provide small timber which does not split deoxyadenosine monophosphate badly as big logs. [ 53 ] In southern England ( particularly in Kent ), gratifying chestnut has traditionally been grown as coppices, being recut every 10 years or thus on rotation for poles used for firewood, and fence ( fence posts and chestnut pale ) .

sustainable forest management [edit ]

An excellent soil-enriching understory [ 18 ] in pine forests, [ 12 ] [ 65 ] sustainable forest management incorporates more interracial plantings of prove efficiency, as opposed to monosylviculture. A study presented in 1997 has evaluated positively the likely increase in productiveness with mix stands and plantations, compared to plots of lone one species. The proportional yield total values of the mix plantings steadily increase with time. C. sativa responds well to competitive pressure from Pseudotsuga menziesii, the latter besides showing a higher productiveness. [ 82 ] C. dentata seedlings in Ohio reforestation efforts are good achieved by planting them in places with small or no arboreal bring cover, because of the necessitate for light. [ 71 ]

product [edit ]

In 2020, populace production of civilized chestnuts was 2,322 tonnes, led by China with 75 % of the total ( mesa ). Spain and Bolivia were besides significant producers .

Uses [edit ]

kestaneci or chestnut vendor in or chestnut seller in Istanbul Roasted chestnuts in Melbourne, Australia

culinary [edit ]

A hot chestnut seller in Avignon, 1936 Dried chestnut in the South of Italy The fruit can be peeled and feed raw, but it can be slightly acerb, specially if the pellicle is not removed. [ 84 ] Another method of eating the yield involves roasting, which does not require skin. Roasting requires scoring the fruit ahead to prevent explosion of the fruit due to expansion. once cooked, its texture is slightly like to that of a adust potato, with a delicate, dulcet, and nutty relish. [ 8 ] [ 27 ] [ 85 ] This method of planning is popular in many countries, where the scored chestnuts may be cooked mix with a small sugar. Chestnuts can be dried and milled into flour, which can then be used to prepare breads, cakes, pies, pancakes, pastas, polenta [ 5 ] ( known in Corsica as pulenda ), or used as thickening for stews, soups, and sauces. Chestnut patty may be prepared using chestnut flour. [ 86 ] In Corsica, the flour is fried into doughnut -like fritters called fritelli and made into necci, pattoni, castagnacci, and cialdi. [ 87 ] The flour can be ignite beige like that from Castagniccia, or dark in other regions. [ 37 ] It is a good solution for long repositing of a alimentary food. [ 19 ] Chestnut boodle can stay newly a long as two weeks. [ 5 ] The nuts can besides be eat candied, boiled, steamed, fried, grill, or roasted in sweetly or savory recipes. [ 5 ] They can be used to stuff vegetables, domestic fowl, bird, and other edibles. [ 18 ] They are available fresh, dried, grind, or canned ( hale or in puree ). Candied chestnuts ( wholly chestnuts candied in sugar syrup, then iced, [ 42 ] ) are sold under the french name marrons glacés or turkish identify kestane şekeri ( “ sugared chestnuts ” ). They appeared in France in the one-sixteenth hundred. Toward the end of nineteenth century, Lyon went into a recession with the collapse of the textile grocery store, notably silk. Clément Faugier, a civil mastermind, was looking for a manner to revitalize the regional economy. In 1882 at Privas, he invented the technology to make marrons glacés on an industrial scale ( although a great number of the more than 20 necessary steps from harvest to the finished intersection are calm accomplished manually ). [ 18 ] Chestnuts are picked in fall, and candied from the start of the following summer for the ensuing Christmas. Thus, the marrons glacés eat at Christmas are those picked the year ahead. [ 88 ]
Castanyera, the traditional seller of chestnuts. An auca of the nineteenth hundred with the image of Catalan, the traditional seller of chestnuts. In Spain, on 31 October on the eve of the All Saints ‘ Day, Catalonia celebrates la castanyada a celebration that consists of eating chestnuts, panellets, fresh potatoes and muscatell. [ 89 ] [ 90 ] On November, in the regions of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and other Northern provinces and Portugal, the Magosto is celebrated. [ 91 ] In Hungarian cuisine, cooked chestnuts are puréed, desegregate with sugar ( and normally rum ), forced through a ricer, and topped with whip cream to make a dessert called gesztenyepüré ( chestnut purée ). [ 92 ] In Swiss cuisine, a like dish made with kirsch and butter is called vermicelles. A french version is known as “ Mont Blanc “. A fine chondritic sugar can be obtained from the agitation of the juice, [ 5 ] [ 93 ] a well as a beer ; the roast yield provides a chocolate substitute. [ 93 ] Parmentier, who among early things was a celebrated potato showman, extracted boodle from chestnuts and sent a chestnut sugarloaf weighing several pounds to the Academy of Lyon. [ 94 ] The continental blockade following soon after ( 1806–1814 ) increased the research into developing chestnuts as a reference of boodle, but Napoleon chose beets alternatively. [ 95 ] Sweet chestnuts are not easy to peel when cold. One kilogram of stainless chestnuts yields about 700 g of shell chestnuts. [ 27 ]

Animal fodder and litter [edit ]

Chestnuts are often added to animal cannon fodder. A first soak in limewater removes their bitter spirit, then they are ground and assorted with the ordinary commissariat. early methods of formulation are besides used. It is given to horses and cattle in the Orient, [ 18 ] and to pigs in England, [ 18 ] France [ 38 ] and other places. The leaves are not as prone to be insect-eaten as those of the oak, and are besides used for fodder. [ 18 ]

Timber [edit ]

Chestnut forest : Note the burst at the top of the log. Chestnut is of the lapp class as oak, and likewise its wood contains many tannins. [ 33 ] This renders the woodwind very durable, [ 33 ] gives it excellent natural outdoor underground, [ 33 ] [ 96 ] and saves the need for other security treatment. It besides corrodes iron lento, although copper, brass section, or stainless steel metals are not affected. [ 96 ] Chestnut timber is cosmetic. Light brown in color, it is sometimes jumble with oak wood. [ 96 ] The two woods ‘ textures are similar. [ 33 ] When in a growing stage, with very little run down wood, a chestnut tree contains more lumber of a durable quality than an oak of the lapp dimensions. Young chestnut wood has proved more durable than oak for carpentry that has to be partially in the ground, such as stakes and fences. [ 18 ] After most growth is achieved, older chestnut timber tends to split and warp when harvested. The timber becomes neither therefore hard nor so strong as oak. [ 18 ] [ 33 ] [ 96 ] The American chestnut C. dentata served as an important reservoir of lumber, because it has farseeing, unbranched trunks. [ 7 ] In Britain, chestnut was once used promiscuously with oak for the structure of houses, millwork, and family furniture. [ 18 ] It grows so freely in Britain that it was long considered a sincerely native species, partially because the ceiling of Westminster Hall and the Parliament House of Edinburgh were mistakenly thought to be constructed of chestnut wood. Chestnut wood, however, loses much of its lastingness when the corner is more than 50 years old, and despite the local chestnut ‘s quick emergence rate, the timber used for these two buildings is well larger than a 50-year-old chestnut ‘s cinch. It has been proven that the roof of these buildings are made of Durmast oak, which close resembles chestnut in texture and color. [ 18 ] It is consequently rare to find big pieces of chestnut in build structures, but it has always been highly valued for small outdoor furniture pieces, fencing, cladding ( shingles ) for covering buildings, [ 96 ] and pit-props, [ 18 ] for which lastingness is an authoritative gene. In Italy, chestnut is besides used to make barrels used for aging balsamic vinegar and some alcoholic beverages, such as whiskey or lambic beer. [ 97 ] Of notice, the celebrated 18th-century “ berles ” in the french Cévennes are cupboards cut directly from the hollowed trunk. [ 98 ]

fuel [edit ]

Dry, chestnut firewood is best burned in a close log-burner, because of its tendency to spit when on an open fire. [ 96 ]

wildlife [edit ]

The corner is noted for attracting wildlife. The nuts are an significant food for jays, pigeons, violent boar, deer, and squirrels. american english and chinese chinquapins ( Castanea pumila and Castanea henryi ) have very little nuts that are an authoritative reservoir of food for wildlife. [ 7 ]

leather [edit ]

Chestnut wood is a useful informant of natural tannin and was used for tanning leather before the introduction of man-made tannins. [ 53 ] On a 10 % moisture basis, the bark contains 6.8 % tannin and the woodwind 13.4 %. [ 99 ] The bark imparts a blue discolor to the tannin, and has a higher sugar content, which increases the share of soluble non-tans, or impurities, in the excerpt ; so it was not employed in this habit. [ 100 ] Chestnut tannin is obtained by hot-water extraction of nick wood. It is an ellagic tannin and its independent constituents are identified by castalagin ( 14.2 % ) and vescalagin ( 16.2 % ). [ 101 ] [ 102 ]
It has a naturally low ph value, relatively low salts content, and high gear acids content. This determines its astringency and its capability to fix crude hides. These properties make chestnut educe particularly suitable for the tan of clayey hides and to produce leather soles for high-quality shoes in particular. It is possible to obtain a leather with high concede in system of weights, which is pack, firm, compromising, and rainproof. Chestnut-tanned leathers are elastic, lightfast, immune to grip and grinding, and have warm color. [ 103 ] [ 104 ] Chestnut tannin is one of the pyrogallol class of tannins ( besides known as hydrolysable tannin ). As it tends to give a brown spirit to the leather, it is most frequently used in combination with quebracho, mimosa, tara, myrabolans, and valonia. [ 100 ]
The wood seems to reach its highest tannin content after the trees reach 30 years old. The southern european chestnut wood normally contains at least 10 to 13 % more tannin than chestnut trees in northerly climates .

other uses [edit ]

framework can be starched with chestnut meal. [ 18 ] Linen fabric can be whitened with chestnut meal. [ 18 ] The leaves and the skins ( chaff and pellicle ) of the fruits provide a hair shampoo. [ 38 ] [ 105 ] Hydrolysable chestnut tannins can be used for fond carbolic acid substitution in phenolic resin resin adhesives product [ 106 ] and besides for conduct use as resin. [ 107 ] Chestnut buds have been listed as one of the 38 substances used to prepare Bach flower remedies, [ 108 ] a kind of alternate medicine promoted for its effect on health. however, according to Cancer Research UK, “ there is no scientific evidence to prove that flower remedies can control, bring around or prevent any type of disease, including cancer ”. [ 109 ]

Chestnut – Wikipedia