Chestnuts Nutrition facts

Chestnuts

Starchy, sweet, rich in flavor, chestnuts are popular edible nuts of the northern hemisphere origin. The nuts are native to the mountainous forests of China, Japan, Europe, and North America.
Botanically, they belong to the beech or Fagaceae family, in the genus: Castanea. Scientific name: Castanea sativa (Sweet chestnuts)
Castanea species are large deciduous trees. They are monoecious; bearing both male and female flowers (“catkins”) on the same tree. They have a remarkable survival history to narrate. Early in the 20th century, once the mighty American-chestnut tree was almost wiped out by pathogenic fungus chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica). A renewed interest has been growing since then to revive native chestnut trees throughout the US.
Once pollinated, female flowers develop into large spiny burr or involucres, each enclosing about 2-3 edible kernels. The fruit is quite larger compared to other tree nuts like cashews, macadamia, etc. Each nut features a smooth, glossy, dark-brown outer shell, 1-1.5 inch in diameter and weighing 8-12 g depending upon the species. Inside, its sweet and starchy kernel features outer brown but inner creamy white flesh.
Four main species of chestnut trees cultivated around the world for their nuts; Castanea sativa in Europe, C. dentata in North America, C.mollissima in China and C. crenata in Japan. The United States is the chief importer of chestnuts from the European Union, although China has been the largest exporter of nuts worldwide, especially to Japan.