The chestnut is a multifunctional resource and has an invaluable historical and cultural heritage as well as an important economic and environmental role. Since the Middle Ages, the nuts of Castanea sativa, a noble hardwood, in Europe, and of C. mollissima and C. crenata in Asia, provided a dietary staple and when dried, a stored food for the whole year in many rural areas. In North America, C. dentata, a forest giant, was a dominant species in the broadleaf forests along the Appalachian range. Before destroyed by chestnut blight and ink disease, it furnished nuts, fuelwood, building timber, and wood products. The chestnut is no longer a subsistence food, but continues to play an important role in many agroforestry systems. Nut and timber productions are integrated with many activities related to a multitude of values, and a sustainable forest resource. The nuts, with both new and traditional methods of storage and processing, reach the market as a large array of commodities and are no longer bread for the poor, but a prized food for an increasingly large market sector. Chestnuts differ from other nuts by their low fat content making them ideally suited for high complex carbohydrate and low fat diets. It is a unique nut crop with outstanding potential for diverse high-quality food products: as a vegetable, as bread and pastries, as a dessert, and as a snack. Semiprocessed or finished products include dried chestnuts, flour, marrons glacés, creams, peeled and frozen nuts, flakes, and beer or liquor. Roasted chestnuts in the street are a popular autumn and winter sight in cities all over the world. In songs and poems, chestnuts recall nostalgic feelings of tradition and happiness. For optimum economic success, chestnut culture must be readjusted to market demand. Improved cultivars and production methods need to be adopted, and pending problems must be solved. Nuts often do not meet the required quality standards, and improved harvest and postharvest technologies need to be implemented. Two major diseases, canker blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) and ink disease (Phytophthora cambivora, P. cinnamomi) threaten the genus and insects damage nuts and trees. Genetic diversity, as well as existing valuable germplasm, must be conserved (Bounous 2003).
Chestnut: Botany, Horticulture, and Utilization
BOUNOUS, Giancarlo;TORELLO MARINONI, Daniela
2005-01-01
Abstract
The chestnut is a multifunctional resource and has an invaluable historical and cultural heritage as well as an important economic and environmental role. Since the Middle Ages, the nuts of Castanea sativa, a noble hardwood, in Europe, and of C. mollissima and C. crenata in Asia, provided a dietary staple and when dried, a stored food for the whole year in many rural areas. In North America, C. dentata, a forest giant, was a dominant species in the broadleaf forests along the Appalachian range. Before destroyed by chestnut blight and ink disease, it furnished nuts, fuelwood, building timber, and wood products. The chestnut is no longer a subsistence food, but continues to play an important role in many agroforestry systems. Nut and timber productions are integrated with many activities related to a multitude of values, and a sustainable forest resource. The nuts, with both new and traditional methods of storage and processing, reach the market as a large array of commodities and are no longer bread for the poor, but a prized food for an increasingly large market sector. Chestnuts differ from other nuts by their low fat content making them ideally suited for high complex carbohydrate and low fat diets. It is a unique nut crop with outstanding potential for diverse high-quality food products: as a vegetable, as bread and pastries, as a dessert, and as a snack. Semiprocessed or finished products include dried chestnuts, flour, marrons glacés, creams, peeled and frozen nuts, flakes, and beer or liquor. Roasted chestnuts in the street are a popular autumn and winter sight in cities all over the world. In songs and poems, chestnuts recall nostalgic feelings of tradition and happiness. For optimum economic success, chestnut culture must be readjusted to market demand. Improved cultivars and production methods need to be adopted, and pending problems must be solved. Nuts often do not meet the required quality standards, and improved harvest and postharvest technologies need to be implemented. Two major diseases, canker blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) and ink disease (Phytophthora cambivora, P. cinnamomi) threaten the genus and insects damage nuts and trees. Genetic diversity, as well as existing valuable germplasm, must be conserved (Bounous 2003).
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