Comballe is a French traditional chestnut (''
Castanea sativa'') variety. In France, it is the variety with the largest production. This beautiful rustic nut of
Ardèche
Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.[Saint-Pierreville
Saint-Pierreville (; oc, Sant Pèire Viala) is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Ardèche department
The following is a list of the 335 communes of the Ardèche department of ...]
, in the mountains of the Ardèche and
Vivarais. It originated in the beginning of the eighteenth century and spread through the region. Its very bright chestnut color features honey reflections with very characteristic dark and regular streaks. Its shape is elliptical elongated. Its tuft is long and fine and its attachment scar (
hilum) is large, clear and rectangular.
The Comballe is a characteristic variety produced in the Ardèche, the largest chestnut production region in France. It is so appreciated that it makes up one third of the total production in this region. The tree is particularly suitable for its original region, the Boutieres and the Ardèche centre. It thrives at 400 m to 650 m elevation in the
Cevennes in Ardèche but also in
Lozère. Given its superior qualities it has supplanted many local varieties.
The flesh of the nut - white, fine, sweet and fragrant - is recognized as one of the best. These taste qualities make the nut good for all uses and preparations including chestnut cream. The Comballe nut peels easily but can have multiple embryos. The late developing
pericarp, makes the nut vulnerable to codling and rot in hot and humid autumns. The preservation of the nuts is complicated. Because of its fragile bark, the tree is particularly exposed to
chestnut blight
The pathogenic fungus ''Cryphonectria parasitica'' (formerly ''Endothia parasitica'') is a member of the Ascomycota (sac fungi). This necrotrophic fungus is native to East Asia and South East Asia and was introduced into Europe and North America ...
.
Comballe trees produce high nut yields of sizable caliber: between 30 and 70 nuts per kilogram. A clone of the Comballe named "Marron Comballe" (CA106) has the advantage of having a nut a little more rarely compartmentalized.
References
{{reflist
* "Châtaignes et marrons" - Henri BREISCH - editor CTIFL - 1995
*C.Sartor; Impact of the Asian wasp Dryocosmus kuriphilus (Yasumatsu) on cultivated chestnut: Yield loss and cultivar susceptibility; Scientia Horticulturae; Volume 197, 14 December 2015, Pages 454-46
* Hennion, B.
Chestnut production in France: review, perspectives Acta Horticulturae 2010, No.866, pp. 493–497
* Pereira-Lorenzo S. et al. (2012) Chestnut. In: Badenes M., Byrne D. (eds) Fruit Breeding. Handbook of Plant Breeding, vol 8. Springer, Boston, M
* Andrea Vannini and Anna Maria Vettraino; Ink disease in chestnuts: impact on the European chestnut; Forest Snow and Landscape Research 76, 3: 345–350 (2001)
* Sandra L. Anagnostakis, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Statio
CULTIVARS OF CHESTNUT 2013, accessed 2017
Chestnut cultivars
Edible nuts and seeds