The chestnuts are the

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

trees and

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Castanea'', in the

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

family

Fagaceae The Fagaceae (; ) are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with around 1,000 or more species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species ...

. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

Description

Chestnut trees are of moderate growth rate (for the Chinese chestnut tree) to fast-growing for American and European species. Their mature heights vary from the smallest species of chinkapins, often shrubby,''Chestnuts, Horse-Chestnuts, and Ohio Buckeyes''
. In Yard and Garden Brief, Horticulture department at University of Minnesota. to the giant of past American forests, '' C. dentata'' that could reach . Between these extremes are found the Japanese chestnut ('' C. crenata'') at average; followed by the Chinese chestnut ('' C. mollissima'') at about , then the European chestnut ('' C. sativa'') around .Chestnuts worldwide and in New Zealand
. By the New Zealand Chestnut Council, 2000. The Chinese and more so the Japanese chestnuts are both often multileadered and wide-spreading, whereas European and especially American species tend to grow very erect when planted among others, with little tapering of their columnar trunks, which are firmly set and massive. When standing on their own, they spread on the sides and develop broad, rounded, dense crowns at maturity. The

foliage A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, f ...

of the European and American species has striking yellow autumn coloring.Autumn Foliage Color:Past, Present, and Future.
Harvard University. Its bark is smooth when young,The American Chestnut Tree
By Samuel B. Detwiler. Reprinted from American Forestry, October, 1915. Chattooga Conservancy. of a vinous

maroon Maroon ( , ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word , meaning chestnut. ''Marron'' is also one of the French translations for "brown". Terms describing interchangeable shades, with overlapping RGB ranges, inc ...

or red-brown color for the American chestnut, grey for the European chestnut. With age, American species' bark becomes grey and darker, thick, and deeply furrowed; the furrows run longitudinally, and tend to twist around the trunk as the tree ages, sometimes reminiscent of a large cable with twisted strands. Chestnut flowers

The leaves are simple,

ovate Ovate may refer to: * Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts *Ovate, a type of prehistoric stone hand axe * Ovates, one of three ranks of membership in the Welsh Gorsedd * Vates or ovate, a term for ancient Celtic bards ...

lanceolate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

, long and wide, with sharply pointed, widely spaced teeth, with shallow rounded sinuates between.Chestnut
in Answers.com. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s follow the leaves, appearing in late spring or early summer or into July. They are arranged in long

catkin A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind- pollinated ( anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated (as in '' Salix''). It contains many, usually unisexual flowers, arra ...

s of two kinds, with both kinds being borne on every tree. Some catkins are made of only male flowers, which mature first. Each flower has eight

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s, or 10 to 12 for ''C. mollissima''. The ripe

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

carries a heavy, sweet odor that some people find too sweet or unpleasant. Other catkins have these pollen-bearing flowers, but also carry near the

twig A twig is a thin, often short, branch of a tree or Bush (plant), bush. The buds on the twig are an important diagnostic characteristic, as are the abscission scars where the leaves have fallen away. The color, texture, and patterning of the t ...

from which these spring, small clusters of female or fruit-producing flowers. Two or three flowers together form a four-lobed prickly calybium, which ultimately grows completely together to make the brown hull, or

husk Husk (or hull) in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed. In the United States, the term husk often refers to the leafy outer covering of an Ear (botany), ear of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes t ...

, covering the fruits. Chestnut flowers are not self-compatible, so two trees are required for

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma (botany), stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or bu ...

. All ''Castanea'' species readily hybridize with each other.

Fruit

The fruit is contained in a spiny (very sharp) cupule in diameter, also called "bur" or " burr".Chinese Chestnut
, College of Natural Resources, Department of Forestry, VirginiaTech. The burrs are often paired or clustered on the branch and contain one to seven nuts according to the different

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

, varieties, and

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s.''Trees of Britain and Europe''. By K. Rushforth. Collins. 1999. .''Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles''. By W.J. Bean. 8th ed., vol. 1. John Murray. 1976. . Around the time the fruits reach maturity, the burrs turn yellow-brown and split open in two or four sections. They can remain on the tree longer than they hold the fruit, but more often achieve complete opening and release the fruits only after having fallen on the ground; opening is partly due to soil

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

. The chestnut fruit has a pointed end with a small tuft at its tip (called "flame" in Italian), and at the other end, a hilum – a pale brown attachment scar. In many varieties, the fruit is flattened on one or two sides. It has two skins. The first one is a hard, shiny, brown outer hull or

, called the pericarpus;''Chestnut Know-How''
. By David McLaren. Written for Chestnut Australia Inc. 1999. the industry calls this the "peel". Underneath the pericarpus is another, thinner skin, called the pellicle or episperm. The pellicle closely adheres to the

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

itself, following the grooves usually present at the surface of the fruit. These grooves are of variable sizes and depths according to the species and variety. The fruit inside these shows a germ with two

cotyledon A cotyledon ( ; ; "a cavity, small cup, any cup-shaped hollow", gen. (), ) is a "seed leaf" – a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant – and is formally defined as "the embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or mor ...

s connected to creamy-white flesh throughout.''What Are Chestnuts''
Information page by a small Australian grower in Balingup, Western Australia. Some varieties have consistently only one embryo per fruit (nut) or have only one large fruit per burr, well rounded (no flat face). The name of varieties with these characteristics may start with "marron" for example ''marron de Lyon'' in France, or ''Marrone di Mugello'' in Italy. Chestnut fruit may not exhibit epigeal dormancy. It may germinate right upon falling to the ground in the autumn, with the roots emerging from the seed right away and the leaves and stem the following spring. The germ can lose viability soon after ripening and under drying conditions. The superior fruiting varieties among European chestnuts have good size, sweet taste, and easy-to-remove inner skins. American chestnuts are usually very small (around ), but sweet-tasting with easy-to-remove pellicles. Some Japanese varieties have very large nuts (around ), with typically difficult-to-remove pellicles. Chinese chestnut pellicles are usually easy to remove, and their sizes vary greatly according to the varieties, although usually smaller than the Japanese chestnut.

Similar species

The unrelated horse chestnuts (genus ''

Aesculus The genus ''Aesculus'' ( or ), with notable species including buckeye and horse chestnut, comprises 13–19 species of flowering plants in the family Sapindaceae. They are trees and shrubs native plant, native to the temperateness, temperat ...

'') are not true chestnuts, but are named for producing nuts of similar appearance that are mildly poisonous to humans. True chestnuts should also not be confused with water chestnuts, which are tubers of an aquatic herbaceous plant in the sedge family

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae () are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as wikt:sedge, sedges. The family (biology), family is large; botanists have species description, described some 5,500 known species in about 90 ...

. Other species commonly mistaken for chestnut trees are the chestnut oak ('' Quercus prinus'') and the American beech (''

Fagus grandifolia Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted species i ...

''),Chestnut Tree
in chestnuttree.net. both of which are also in the Fagaceae family. Brazil nuts, called "Brasil chestnuts" (''castañas de Brasil'' in Spanish) or "chestnuts from Pará" (''castanha-do-Pará'' in Portuguese) are also unrelated.

Taxonomy

Species

Chestnuts belong to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

, which also includes

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

s and

es. The four main species groups are commonly known as American,Industry information
by David McLaren. From ''The Chestnut Growers Information Book'', Chestnut Australia Inc. European, Chinese, and Japanese chestnuts. The taxonomy of the American chestnuts is not completely resolved, particularly between the chinkapins ( Castanea ozarkensis and Castanea pumila), which are sometimes considered to be the same species. Genetics have indicated the California native "golden chinkapin" (

Chrysolepis chrysophylla ''Chrysolepis chrysophylla'' is a species of flowering shrub or tree in the Fagaceae, beech family known by the common names golden chinquapin, giant chinquapin, and western chinquapin. It is native to the Pacific coast of the United States.McMur ...

) is worthy of inclusion in a different genus along with a species from Coastal China. There is also another chestnut, '' Castanea alabamensis'', which may be its own species.

Etymology

The name "chestnut" is derived from an earlier English term "chesten nut", which descends from the Old French word ''chastain'' (Modern French, ''châtaigne''). The French word in turn derives from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Castanea'' (also the scientific name of the tree), which traces to the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

word κάστανον (sweet chestnut).''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. By A. Huxley ed. 1992. Macmillan . A possible source of the Greek word is the ancient town of Casthanaea in Magnesia. Its location is at the modern village of Keramidi. The town probably took its name, though, from the trees growing around it. In the Mediterranean climate zone, chestnut trees are rarer in Greece because the chalky soil is not conducive to the tree's growth. Kastania is located on one of the relatively few sedimentary or siliceous outcrops. They grow so abundantly there that their presence would have determined the place's name. Still others take the name as coming from the Greek name of ''Sardis glans'' (Sardis acorn) –

Sardis Sardis ( ) or Sardes ( ; Lydian language, Lydian: , romanized: ; ; ) was an ancient city best known as the capital of the Lydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Lydia (satrapy) ...

being the capital of

Lydia Lydia (; ) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis. At some point before 800 BC, ...

, Asia Minor, from where the fruit had spread.The Meaning of Trees
By Fred Hageneder, Chronicle Books – Nature. 2005. The name is cited twice in the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...

of the Bible. In one instance, Jacob puts peeled twigs in the water troughs to promote healthy offspring of his livestock.Vegetarians in Paradise
. Although it may indicate another tree, it indicates the fruit was a local staple food in the early 17th century.
These

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

s are or have been in use: ''Fagus Castanea'' (used by Linnaeus in first edition of ''Species Plantarum'', 1753),''On the Name of the American Chestnut''
By Geo. B. Sudworth. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, Vol. 19, No. 5 (May 5, 1892), pp. 152–154 (article consists of 3 pages). Published by: Torrey Botanical Society. Sardian nut, Jupiter's nut, husked nut, and Spanish chestnut (U.S.).
By Mrs. M. Grieve.

Ecology

The tree is noted for attracting wildlife. The nuts are an important food for jays,

pigeon Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

, deer, and

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...

s. American and Chinese chinquapins (''C. pumila'' and ''C. henryi'') have very small nuts that are an important source of food for wildlife.

Cultivation

History

Europe and the Near East

It has been a staple food in southern Europe, Turkey, and southwestern and eastern Asia''The cultivation of Castanea sativa (Mill.) in Europe, from its origin to its diffusion on a continental scale''
. By M. Conedera, P. Krebs, W. Tinner, M. Pradella and D. Torriani. Veget Hist Archaeobot (2004) 13:161–179. . This multidisciplinary study reconstructs the origin of chestnut cultivation and its spread throughout Europe in prehistoric times. for millennia, largely replacing cereals where these would not grow well, if at all, in mountainous Mediterranean areas., Guy (1976)

In ''La Préhistoire Française'', Vol. 2: 180–5. Paris. Cited in ''The Cambridge World History of Food'' – Chestnuts, edited by Kenneth F. Kipple and Kriemhild Connee Ornelas. Evidence of its cultivation by humans is found since around 2000 BC.

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

and the Romans planted chestnut trees across Europe while on their various campaigns. A Greek army is said to have survived their retreat from Asia Minor in 401–399 BC thanks to their stores of chestnuts.Chestnut History
by Peggy Trowbridge Filippone. For Cooking resources, Food history, in About.com. Ancient Greeks, such as Dioscorides and Galen, wrote of chestnuts to comment on their medicinal properties—and of the flatulence induced by eating too much of it. To the early Christians, chestnuts symbolized

chastity Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains from sexual activity that is considered immoral or from any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for exampl ...

. Until the introduction of the

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

, whole forest-dwelling communities which had scarce access to

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

flour relied on chestnuts as their main source of

carbohydrate A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...

s. In some parts of Italy, a cake made of chestnuts is used as a substitute for potatoes. In 1583, Charles Estienne and Jean Liébault wrote, "an infinity of people live on nothing else but (the chestnut)".Charles Estienne and Jean Liébault. ''L'agriculture et maison rustique''. Paris.1583. Cited in ''The Cambridge World History of Food'' – Chestnuts, edited by Kenneth F. Kipple and Kriemhild Connee Ornelas. In 1802, an Italian

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the Uni ...

said of Tuscany that "the fruit of the chestnut tree is practically the sole subsistence of our highlanders",Targioni-Tozzetti 1802, Vol. 3: 154. Cited in ''The Cambridge World History of Food'' – Chestnuts. while in 1879 it was said that it almost exclusively fed whole populations for half the year, as "a temporary but complete substitution for cereals".Les ouvriers européens. By Frédéric Le Play. 6 vols. Paris. 1879. Cited in ''The Cambridge World History of Food'' – Chestnuts, edited by Kenneth F. Kipple and Kriemhild Connee Ornelas. In Britain, boundary records compiled in the reign of King John already showed the famous Tortworth Chestnut in South

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, as a landmark; it was also known by the same name of "Great Chestnut of Tortworth" in the days of

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

. This tree measured over in circumference at from the ground in 1720. The Hundred Horse Chestnut in the chestnut forests on

Mount Etna Mount Etna, or simply Etna ( or ; , or ; ; or ), is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina, Italy, Messina and Catania. It is located above the Conve ...

is the oldest living chestnut tree and is said to be even larger. Chestnut trees particularly flourish in the Mediterranean basin. In 1584, the governor of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, which dominated

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

, ordered all the farmers and landowners to plant four trees yearly, among which was a chestnut tree – plus

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

, fig and

mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinat ...

trees. Many communities owe their origin and former richness to the ensuing chestnut woods.The Chestnut Tree
in terracorsa. In France, the '' marron glacé'', a candied chestnut involving 16 different processes in a typically French cooking style, is always served at Christmas and New Year's time. In

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

, Italy, they are soaked in wine before roasting and serving, and are also traditionally eaten on Saint Simon's Day in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

. In the

Romagna Romagna () is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy. Etymology The name ''Romagna'' originates from the Latin name ''Romania'', which originally ...

region, roasted chestnuts are often served with a traditional wine, the Cagnina di Romagna. It is traditional to eat roasted chestnuts in Portugal on St. Martin's Day. Their popularity declined during the last few centuries, partly due to their reputation of "food for poor people".''Traitement des maladies par les légumes, les fruits et les céréales''. By Dr Jean Valnet. Ed. Maloine s.a., 1977, pp. 213 to 216. First published in 1964. . Translated in English as ''Organic garden medicine – The medical uses of vegetables, fruits and grains'', Ed. Erbonia Books Inc., New York. Many people did not want to take chestnut bread as "

bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

" because chestnut flour does not rise. Some slandered chestnut products in such words as the bread which "gives a sallow complexion" written in 1770,''Dictionnaire universel des plantes, arbres et arbustes de la France'': 126. By Pierre-Joseph Buc'hoz. Paris. 1770. or in 1841 "this kind of mortar which is called a soup".''Voyage dans la Belgique, la Hollande et l'Italie (1796–1798)'': 173. By André Thouin. Paris. 1841. The last decades' worldwide renewal 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 resistant to chestnut blight, as well as to relieve the strain on cereal supplies. The main region in Italy for chestnut production is the Mugello region; in 1996, the European Community granted the fruit Protected Geographic Indication (equivalent to the French ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'') status to th
Mugello sweet chestnut
It is markedly sweet, peels easily, is not excessively floury or

astringent An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin '' adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Astringency, the dry, puckering or numbing mouthfeel caused by t ...

, and has notes of

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). ''Vanilla'' is not Autogamy, autogamous, so pollination ...

hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus '' Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according to ...

, and, more subtly, fresh bread. It has no unpleasant aroma, such as

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal ...

, or paper, which sometimes occur with other chestnuts.The IGP Mugello Sweet Chestnut.
/ref> The main regions in France for chestnut production are the départements of

Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Var (Eastern Provence),

Cévennes The Cévennes ( , ; ) is a cultural region and range of mountains in south-central France, on the south-east edge of the Massif Central. It covers parts of the '' départements'' of Ardèche, Gard, Hérault and Lozère. Rich in geographical, ...

(Gard and Lozère départements) and the

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

region. France annually produces over 1,000 metric tons, but still imports about 8,000 metric tons, mainly from Italy.Candied chestnuts (in French).
/ref> In Portugal's archipelago of Madeira, chestnut liquor is a traditional beverage, and it is gaining popularity with the tourists and in continental Portugal.

Asia

Always served as part of the New Year's menu in Japan, chestnuts represent both success and hard times—mastery and strength. The Japanese chestnut (''kuri'') was in cultivation before

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

Japanese Chestnut
in Japan House and the Chinese chestnut (''C. mollissima'') possibly for 2,000 to 6,000 years. During British colonial rule in the mid-1700s to 1947, the sweet chestnut, ''C. sativa'', was widely introduced in the temperate parts of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, mainly in the lower to middle

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

. They are widely found in British-founded hill stations in northern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and to a lesser extent in

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

and

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. They are mainly used as an ornamental tree and are found in almost all British-founded botanical gardens and official governmental compounds (such as larger official residences) in temperate parts of the Indian subcontinent. China has about 300 chestnut

s. Moreover, the 'Dandong' chestnut (belonging to the Japanese chestnut ''C. crenata'') is a major

Liaoning Province ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

.Economic forest trees
. In

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, roasted chestnuts (''gunbam'') are a popular winter snack, and serve as a symbol of abundance in ancestral rituals. Roasted chestnuts are also included in folk songs of Korea, which include "''Gunbam Taryeong''", a song that celebrates chestnuts, as well as "''Jeongseokga''", a song from the

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...

period.

Gongju Gongju (; ) is a city in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. History Gongju was formerly named Ungjin and was the capital of Baekje from AD 475 to 538. In this period, Baekje was under threat from Goguryeo. Goguryeo had overrun the previ ...

, one of

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...

's former capitals, is renowned for its chestnuts, with an annual chestnut festival that takes place in the winter. In the '' Samgukji (Records Of The Three Kingdoms)'', a book that was compiled during the Jin dynasty about the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

, chestnuts are used in the description of Mahan, the former land of Baekje. In the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

''talakatak'' or Philippine chestnut ('' Castanopsis philippinensis'') is not cultivated commercially, though its nuts are harvested from the wild and consumed locally. Imported chestnuts (known as ''kastanyas'' in Tagalog, from Spanish ''castañas'') are traditionally sold as street food in the Philippines during the Christmas season.

North America

Native Americans were eating the American chestnut species, mainly ''C. dentata'' and some others, long before European immigrants introduced their stock to America, and before the arrival of

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 ...

. In some places, such as the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

, one-quarter of

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

s were chestnuts. Mature trees often grew straight and branch-free for , up to , averaging up to in diameter. For three centuries, most barns and homes east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

were made from it.. Salem Board & Beam. In 1911, the food book '' 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 classic "beef and onions" and "green peas and veal". This celebrated the chestnut culture that would bring whole villages out in the woods for three weeks each autumn (and keep them busy all winter), and deplored the lack of food diversity in the United States's shop shelves. Soon after that, however, the American chestnuts were nearly wiped out by chestnut blight. The discovery of the blight fungus on some Asian chestnut trees planted on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, New York, was made public in 1904. Within 40 years, the nearly four billion-strong American chestnut population in North America was devastated;The American Chestnut Foundation – Mission & History
. only a few clumps of trees remained in Michigan, Wisconsin,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. Due to disease, American chestnut wood almost disappeared from the market for decades, although quantities can still be obtained as reclaimed lumber.''Trees, Woods and Man''. By H.L. Edlin. New Naturalist. 1970. . Today, they only survive as single trees separated from any others (very rare), and as living stumps, or "stools", with only a few growing enough shoots to produce seeds shortly before dying. This is just enough to preserve the genetic material used to engineer an American chestnut tree with the minimal necessary genetic input from any of the disease-immune Asiatic species. Efforts started in the 1930s are still ongoing to repopulate the country with these trees, in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and many places elsewhere in the United States.American Chestnut Foundation
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. 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 annually. Today, the demand for the nut outstrips supply. The United States imported 4,056 metric tons of European in-shell chestnuts worth $10 million in 2007.Agricultural Marketing Resource Center: ''Chestnuts''
By Malinda Geisler, content specialist, Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, Iowa State University. Revised May 2008. The U.S. chestnut industry is in its infancy, producing less than 1% of total world production. Since the mid-20th century, most of the US imports are from

Southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

, with the large, meaty, and richly flavored Sicilian chestnuts being considered among the best quality for bulk sale and supermarket retail. Some imports come from Portugal and France. The next two largest sources of imports are China and South Korea. The French varieties of ''marrons'' are highly favored and sold at high prices in

gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...

shops. As of 2024, the United States imports 7.5 million pounds of non-organic chestnuts per year. A study of the sector in 2005 found that U.S. producers are mainly part-timers diversifying an existing agricultural business, or hobbyists. Another recent study indicates that investment in a new plantation takes 13 years to break even, at least within the current Australian market.''Chestnut production''
. By David McLaren. Written from ''The Chestnut Growers Information Book'', for Chestnut Australia Inc. 1999 for Chestnut Australia Inc. 1999. Starting a small-scale operation requires a relatively low initial investment; this is a factor in the small size of the present production operations, with half of them being between . Another determining factor in the small productivity of the sector is that most orchards have been created less than 10 years ago, so have young trees which are as now barely entering commercial production. Assuming a yield for a 10-year-old tree is a reliable conservative estimate, though some exceptional specimens of that age have yielded . So, most producers earn less than $5,000 per year, with a third of them not having sold anything so far. Moreover, the plantings have so far been mostly of Chinese species, but the products are not readily available. The American Chestnut Foundation in collaboration with many partners ( SUNY ESF, the American Chestnut Cooperators' Foundation and many others from education, research, and industry sectors contributing to the program) are in the last stages of developing a variety that is as close as possible to the American chestnut, while having incorporated the blight-resistant gene of the Asiatic species. Considering the additional advantage that chestnut trees can be easily grown organically, and assuming the development of brands in the market and everything else being equal, home-grown products would reach higher prices than imports, the high volume of which indicates a market with expanding prospects. As of 2008, the price for chestnuts sold fresh in the shell ranges from $1.50/lb ($3.30/kg) wholesale to about $5/lb ($11/kg) retail, depending mainly on the size.

Australia and New Zealand

The Australian gold rush of the 1850s and 1860s led to the first recorded plantings of European chestnut trees, brought from Europe by settlers. Along the years, most chestnut tree plantations were ''C. sativa'' stock, which is still the dominant species. Some of these remain today. Some trees in northern Victoria are around 120 years old and up to 60 m tall. Chestnuts grow well in

southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, which has cold winters and warm to hot summers. As of 2008, the country has nearly 350 growers, annually producing around 1,200 metric tons of chestnuts, of which 80% come from northeast Victoria. The produce is mostly sold to the domestic fresh fruit market. Chestnuts are slowly gaining popularity in Australia. A considerable increase in production is expected in the next 10 years, due to the increase in commercial plantings during the last 15 to 25 years. By far, the most common species in Australia is the European chestnut, but small numbers of the other species, as well as some hybrids, have been planted. 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 1900s, more so in the upper

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

region.

Cultivation ecology

Climate and seasonal germination cycle

Chestnuts produce a better crop when subjected to chill temperatures during the dormant period. Frosts and snowfalls are beneficial rather than harmful to the trees. The dormant plant is very cold-hardy in Britain,Ken Fern. Notes from observations, tasting, etc. at ''Plants for a Future'' and on field trips. Cited in ''Plants for a Future'' to the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

's H6 hardiness rating, to -20 °C. Chestnut is hardy to USDA zone 5, which is lower in average minimal temperature than

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in zone 9.Castanea sativa – Mill.
in ''Plants for a Future''. The young growth in spring, even on mature plants, however, is

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is simila ...

-tender;

bud In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or Plant embryogenesis, embryonic Shoot (botany), shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a Plant stem, stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormancy, dormant conditi ...

-burst is later than most other fruit trees, so late frosts can be damaging to young buds. Trees can be found at altitudes between 200 and above sea level; some mention between 300 and altitude,''Étude d'un produit régional: La crème de marrons''
By Sabrina Derouet, Flavie Dhellemmes, Lamia Hakam, Claire Lhaoucine and Maxime Vanhoutte. EPU Lille-USTL. 2003. while the famous Hundred Horse Chestnut on

stands at 1200 metres.The Chestnut tree of Mount Etna
Detailed account of the tree, its state and its surroundings, written by Wm. Rushton on June 29, 1871. They can tolerate maritime exposure, although growth is reduced. Seeds

germinate Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an flowering plant, angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the sp ...

in late winter or early spring, but the life length is short. If kept moist, they can be stored in a cool place for a few months, but must be checked regularly for signs of germination. Low temperature prolongs dormancy. Sowing them as soon as ripe is better, either in cold frames or seedbeds outdoors,''Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers.'' By W. G. Sheat. MacMillan and Co 1948. Cited in ''Plants for a Future''. where they can be left ''in situ'' for one to two years before being planted in their permanent positions, or in pots, where the plants can be put out into their permanent positions in summer or autumn. They must be protected from the cold in their first winter, and also from

mice A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

and

s. Chestnuts are considered self-sterile,Sweet Chestnut (''Castanea'' species)
Society of Ontario Nut Growers. so at least two trees are needed for pollination.

Soil requirements

''Castanea'' grows best in a soil with good

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils can prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditions that harm root gro ...

and adequate moisture. The tree prefers sloping, deep soils; it does not like shallow or heavy soils with impermeable,

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

subsoil Subsoil is the layer of soil under the topsoil on the surface of the ground. Like topsoil, it is composed of a variable mixture of small particles such as sand, silt and clay, but with a much lower percentage of organic matter and humus. The su ...

s. The Chinese chestnut prefers a fertile, well-drained soil, but it grows well in fairly dry, rocky, or poor soils.Kentucky Division of Forestry
. Although ''Castanea'' can grow in very

acidic An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis acid. The first category of acids are the ...

soil, and while these soils are reasonably well tolerated, the preferred range is from pH 5.5-6.0. It does not grow well on alkaline soils, such as

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

, but thrives on soils such as those derived from

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

, or

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

. On alkaline soils, chestnut trees can be grown by

grafting Grafting or graftage is a horticulture, horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the roots ...

them onto

rootstocks.
Recently cleared land is best avoided to help resist the

root rot Root rot is a condition in which anoxic conditions in the soil or potting media around the roots of a plant cause them to rot. This occurs due to excessive standing water around the roots.-Hydroponics Root Rot: What is It, How To Treat It, How ...

, ''Armillaria mellia''.

Sun exposure

''Castanea'' likes a full sun position. An experiment with ''C. dentata'' seedlings in Ohio confirmed the need for sun for optimal growth.Survival and growth in size and biomass of American Chestnut (''Castanea dentata'') seedlings under various silvicultural regimens in a mixed oak forest ecosystem.
By Corinne McCament and Brian McCarthy. Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. Paper presented on 6 August 2003 at the ESA 2003 Annual Meeting. The butt of the tree is sometimes painted with white paint to protect the tree from

sunburn Sunburn is a form of radiation burn that affects living tissue, such as skin, that results from an overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, usually from the Sun. Common symptoms in humans and other animals include red or reddish skin tha ...

until it has developed enough canopy. Wide spacing between the trees encourages low, broad crowns with maximum exposure to sunshine to increase fruit production. Where chestnut trees touch, virtually no fruit is produced. Current industrial planting spacings can range from 7 x 7 to 20 x . The closer plantings, which are more popular, mean quicker increases in short-term production, but heavy pruning or even tree removal is required later.

Watering

The optimum rainfall for chestnut trees is or more, ideally in even distribution throughout the year.

Mulch A mulch is a layer of material applied to the surface of soil. Reasons for applying mulch include conservation of soil moisture, improving soil fertility, fertility and health of the soil, reducing Weed control, weed growth, and enhancing the v ...

ing during summer is recommended. Rainfall below per year needs be complemented with, for example, a

drip irrigation Drip irrigation or trickle irrigation is a type of micro-irrigation system that has the potential to save water and nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either from above the soil surface or buried below the surfac ...

system. This should water the soil at the outer half of the circle formed by the drip line to encourage root growth. Independently from annual rainfall, watering young trees is recommended at least during summer and early autumn. Once established, they resist

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

s well.''Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses''. By D. Bown. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 .''RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement''. By F. Chittendon. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951.

Preservation

In addition to being consumed fresh, chestnuts can also be canned, pureed, or preserved in sugar or syrup (''marrons glacés''). Shelled and cooked nuts should be covered, refrigerated, and used within 3–4 days. Cooked chestnuts, either whole, chopped, or pureed, may be frozen in an airtight container and held up to 9 months. Because of their high water content,

transpiration Transpiration is the process of water movement through a plant and its evaporation from aerial parts, such as leaves, stems and flowers. It is a passive process that requires no energy expense by the plant. Transpiration also cools plants, c ...

rates, and consequent 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. 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 Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

, after which they are dried in the shade, then layered in dry sand.
Chestnuts behave similarly to seeds in that they produce very little

ethylene Ethylene (IUPAC name: ethene) is a hydrocarbon which has the formula or . It is a colourless, flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odour when pure. It is the simplest alkene (a hydrocarbon with carbon–carbon bond, carbon–carbon doub ...

, and their respiration rate is low, varying between 5 and 20 mg/(kg·h) depending on the temperature.

Pests

= Mammals and birds

= * Grey squirrels strip bark from when the tree is about eight years old and onward through the life of the tree. *

Rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

s 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. * Cattle and horses may require temporary fencing to prevent them from damaging fallen chestnuts at harvest time. * The

sulphur-crested cockatoo The sulphur-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua galerita'') is a relatively large white cockatoo found in wooded habitats in Australia, New Guinea, and some of the islands of Indonesia. They can be locally very numerous, leading to them sometimes being ...

can damage branches up to in diameter by carrying out "beak maintenance" on young trees. * Rosellas can be troublesome at harvest time. * 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.

= Insects

= * '' Dryocosmus kuriphilus'', the oriental chestnut gall wasp, is native to China, but is an invasive pest elsewhere. It attacks and destroys the chestnut fruit. It is considered the world's worst pest of chestnuts.CABI, 2013
''Dryocosmus kuriphilus''.
In: Invasive Species Compendium. Wallingford, UK: CAB International. * The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of the polyfag moth ('' Phytomyza horticola'')Plantedoktoren
A gallery of plant pests. species are among those that do most damage to shoots and foliage.''The pest control of the Chestnut tree''
by Dr Péter Szentiványi. Chestnut – Agricultural Publisher. For Sarkpont Cc., Hungary. * The most frequently occurring pests are the

winter moth The winter moth (''Operophtera brumata'') is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is an abundant species in Europe and the Near East and a famous study organism for evaluating insect population dynamics. It is one of very few lepidopterans of te ...

(''Operophtera brumata'') and the mottled umber moth (''Erannis defoliaria''). * Th
oak roller weevil
( ''Attelabus nitens'') causes relatively less damage by rolling up the leaves into a barrel shape to shelter its eggs and developing larvae. The insects swarm from the end of April to mid-June, and damage the tree's flower buds during their feeding season. * The

e of the oak-leaf-mining moth, also called the tischerid moth ('' Tischeria ekebladella''), digs white, see-through mines in chestnut leaves. It lays its eggs in the leaves between May and June. The larvae cause white spots in the leaves by chewing them from the inside. * The oak

aphid Aphids are small sap-sucking insects in the Taxonomic rank, family Aphididae. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white Eriosomatinae, woolly ...

('' Myzocallis castanicola'') sucks on the apex of young shoots and leaves. Native to Europe and North America, it is, for example, active in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. Leaves do not roll up, but their feeding delays the growth of shoots and damages young graft-shoot hosts. Commercial plantations and nurseries spray pesticides during the shoots' growth period to fight the damage. The chestnut mosaic virus is probably transmitted by ''M. castanicola'' aphids.''Chestnut mosaic virus : Transmission by the aphid Myzocallis castanicola on Chestnut tree''
By J.-C. Desvignes and D. Cornaggia (CTIFL, Centre de Lanxade, La Force, France). In Phytoma, la défense des végétaux. 1996, no. 481, pp. 39–41 (6 ref.). . * The chestnut weevil (''

Curculio elephas ''Curculio elephas'' is a species of beetle in the family Curculionidae, the true weevils. It is known commonly as the chestnut weevil. It is a serious pest of chestnut (''Castanea sativa'') in Europe.Paparatti, B. & Speranza, S. (1999)Biologica ...

'') most often damages the fruits. In Hungary, it swarms in chestnut

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

s around August 20, particularly strongly around noon and in sunny weather. The eggs are laid into the cupules or around the peduncle joints. The larvae feed on the nuts and leave only nutchips and excrement within. While the chestnuts ripen, the larvae retreat into the ground after having chewed their way out of the nuts. The following July, they turn into

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

e.
The larvae of the chestnut weevil can only chew their way out of a fallen nut, so breeding occurs mostly where chestnuts lie on the ground for a sufficient length of time, or where the trees produce many small fruits which remain behind at the harvest. Timing the harvests to pick up the chestnuts as soon as they fall reduces the numbers of the overwintering larvae. Regular soil work is also unfavourable to its life habits. Small grafts are sprayed with chemicals. A warm, aerosol-based protection has been developed for older trees, by Sifter and Bürgés in 1971. Planting chestnut orchards beside turkey oak forests is not advised, because both trees are susceptible to the chestnut weevil (which also uses the turkey oak acorn to develop), and the turkey oak trees can pass it on to the chestnut trees. * In Hungary, the most common moth threatening chestnut trees is the acorn moth (''Laspeyreisa splendana'') and its subspecies. Its grayish-yellow larvae cause similar damage to that of the chestnut weevil, but they spin characteristic webs among the nutchips and larval excrement. This moth causes about 5–41% of the damage that occurs in western Hungary's plantations. Plantations need regular protection against these moths, the occurrence of which does not decrease. * In New Zealand, the grass grub beetle eats the soft, new-season foliage. They can entirely strip a young tree in the late spring, when they fly at dusk, often in huge numbers.

Diseases

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 ...

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. Early in the 20th century, chestnut blight destroyed about four billion American chestnut trees, 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. 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.
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 Phloem (, ) is the living tissue in vascular plants that transports the soluble organic compounds made during photosynthesis and known as ''photosynthates'', in particular the sugar sucrose, to the rest of the plant. This transport process is ...

, thus causing cankers.''The role of Spulerina simploniella in the spread of Chestnut blight''
By S. Diamandis (NAGREF, Forest Research Institute, 570 06 Vassilika, Thessaloniki, Greece) and C. Perlerou. Received: 27.07.2004; accepted: 25.02.2005; editor: P. Raddi. . * Ink disease also appears in a number of other plants. The disease attacks the phloem tissue and the

cambium A cambium (: cambiums or cambia), in plants, is a tissue layer that provides partially undifferentiated cells for plant growth. It is found in the area between xylem and phloem. A cambium can also be defined as a cellular plant tissue from whic ...

of the

root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...

s 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 Tannic acid is a specific form of tannin, a type of polyphenol. Its weak acidity (Acid dissociation constant, pKa around 6) is due to the numerous phenol groups in the structure. The chemical formula for commercial tannic acid is often given as ...

becoming (

oxidized Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is ...

) 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. It is caused by '' Phytophthora cambivora'' and '' Phytophthora cinnamomi''. * ''Phytophthora'' disease is the longest-known chestnut tree disease leading to tree death. Of the two main

pathogen In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a Germ theory of d ...

s for this disease, the one in European chestnuts is known since 1971 to be '' Phytophthora cambivora''. '' Phytophthora cinnamomi'' 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. * ''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 A conidium ( ; : conidia), sometimes termed an asexual chlamydospore or chlamydoconidium (: chlamydoconidia), is an Asexual reproduction, asexual, non-motility, motile spore of a fungus. The word ''conidium'' comes from the Ancient Greek word f ...

-like side forms of this fungus, occurs on all decayed,

ligneous A woody plant is a plant that produces wood as its structural tissue and thus has a hard stem. In cold climates, woody plants further survive winter or dry season above ground, as opposed to Herbaceous plant, herbaceous plants that die back to t ...

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 The ''Stromata'' (), a mistake for ''Stromateis'' (Στρωματεῖς, "Patchwork," i.e., ''Miscellanies''), attributed to Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215), is the third of a trilogy of works regarding the Christian life. The oldest ...

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''. * Chestnut mosaic virus is probably transmitted by the oak aphid ''Myzocallis castanicola''. *

Root rot Root rot is a condition in which anoxic conditions in the soil or potting media around the roots of a plant cause them to rot. This occurs due to excessive standing water around the roots.-Hydroponics Root Rot: What is It, How To Treat It, How ...

is caused by the

honey fungus ''Armillaria'' is a genus of fungi that includes the '' A. mellea'' species ('honey fungus') that live on trees and woody shrubs. It includes about 10 species formerly categorized summarily as ''A. mellea''. ''Armillaria'' sp. are long-live ...

''Armillaria mellia''. When planting ''Castanea'', recently cleared land is best avoided to help resist this fungus. The disease is more prevalent on heavier and poorly drained soil types. * 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. * 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. * In storage rot, breaking the tuft provides the most common entrance for fungal

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

s during storage. '' Ciboria'', the most diffuse, turns the flesh black and spongy. Other fungi are known, such as ''Rhizopus'', ''Fusarium'', and ''

Colletotrichum ''Colletotrichum'' (sexual stage: ''Glomerella'') is a genus of fungi that are symbionts to plants as endophytes (living within the plant) or phytopathogens. Many of the species in this genus are plant pathogens, but some species may have a mu ...

''. 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. * Chestnut canker can be caused by fungi of genus ''Dendrostoma''.

Coppicing

Most chestnut wood production is done by

coppice Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a tree stump, stump, which in many species encourages new Shoot (botany), shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest ...

systems, cut on a 12-year rotation to provide small timber which does not split as badly as large logs. In southern England (particularly in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

), sweet chestnut has traditionally been grown as coppices, being recut every 10 years or so on rotation for poles used for firewood, and

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

(fence posts and chestnut paling).

Sustainable forest management

An excellent soil-enriching understory in

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

forests,

sustainable forest management Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, forest protection, and forest regulation. This includes mana ...

incorporates more mixed plantings of proven efficiency, as opposed to monosylviculture. A study presented in 1997 has evaluated positively the potential increase in productivity with mixed stands and plantations, compared to plots of only one species. The relative yield total values of the mixed plantings steadily increase with time. ''C. sativa'' responds well to competitive pressure from ''Pseudotsuga menziesii'', the latter also showing a higher productivity. ''C. dentata'' seedlings in Ohio reforestation efforts are best achieved by planting them in places with little or no arboreous land cover, because of the need for light.

Production

In 2020, world production of cultivated chestnuts was 2,322

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

s, led by China with 75% of the total (table).

Uses

Nutrition

Chestnuts depart from the norm for culinary nuts, as they have little protein or fat; their calories come chiefly from carbohydrates. Fresh chestnut fruits provide about of

food energy Food energy is chemical energy that animals and humans derive from food to sustain their metabolism and muscular activity. Most animals derive most of their energy from aerobic respiration, namely combining the carbohydrates, fats, and protein ...

per 100 g of edible parts, which is much lower than

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

s, other nuts, and dried fruit (about per 100 g).''Chestnut – Nutritional value''
. Information page by a small Australian grower in Balingup, Western Australia. In some areas, sweet chestnut trees are called "bread trees".''The Chestnut – Fruit of the Bread Tree''
Rockridge Market Hall. When chestnuts are just starting to ripen, the fruits are mostly starch and are firm under finger pressure from the high water content. As the chestnuts ripen, the starch is slowly converted into

sugars Sugar is the generic name for Sweetness, sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides ...

, and moisture content decreases. Upon pressing the ripe chestnut, a slight "give" can be felt; the hull is not so tense, and space occurs between the flesh of the fruit and it.Delmarvelous nursery
(Chestnut Trees & Seed Nuts). Raw chestnuts are 60% water and contain 44 grams of

s, 2 grams of

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

, one gram of

fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specif ...

, supplying 200

calorie The calorie is a unit of energy that originated from the caloric theory of heat. The large calorie, food calorie, dietary calorie, kilocalorie, or kilogram calorie is defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one liter o ...

s in a 100-gram reference amount (table). Chestnuts provide some

B vitamins B vitamins are a class of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in Cell (biology), cell metabolism and synthesis of red blood cells. They are a chemically diverse class of compounds. Dietary supplements containing all eight are referr ...

and

dietary mineral In the context of nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element. Some "minerals" are essential for life, but most are not. ''Minerals'' are one of the four groups of essential nutrients; the others are vitamins, essential fatty acids, and essent ...

s in significant content (table). Their carbohydrate content compares with that of wheat and rice. Chestnuts have twice as much

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diet ...

as the potato on an as-is basis. They contain about 8% of various

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

s, mainly

sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...

glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula , which is often abbreviated as Glc. It is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. It is mainly made by plants and most algae d ...

fructose Fructose (), or fruit sugar, is a Ketose, ketonic monosaccharide, simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and gal ...

, and in lesser amounts, stachyose and raffinose, which are fermented in the lower gut, producing gas. Chestnuts are among the few "nuts" that contain

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription di ...

, with 48% of the

Daily Value In the U.S. and Canada, the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) is used in nutrition labeling on food and dietary supplement products to indicate the daily intake level of a nutrient that is considered to be sufficient to meet the requirements of 97� ...

in a 100-gram serving (table). The amount of vitamin C decreases by roughly 40% upon heating (typically, the vitamin is decreased or destroyed in heated foods). Fresh chestnuts contain about 52% water by weight, which evaporates relatively quickly during storage. They can lose as much as 1% of weight in one day at 20 °C (68 °F) and 70%

relative humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

Culinary

The fruit can be peeled and eaten raw, but it can be somewhat

, especially if the pellicle is not removed.''Description of European Chestnut''
. By F. Ferrini and F. P. Nicese. Horticulture Department – University of Florence – Italy. Another method of eating the fruit involves roasting, which does not require peeling. Roasting requires scoring the fruit beforehand to prevent explosion of the fruit due to expansion. Once cooked, its texture is slightly similar to that of a baked potato, with a delicate, sweet, and nutty flavour.Sweet Chestnut Jam recipe. Storing Sweet Chestnuts
in ''The Cottage Smallholder''. This method of preparation is popular in many countries, where the scored chestnuts may be cooked mixed with a little sugar. Chestnuts can be dried and milled into flour, which can then be used to prepare breads,

cake Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabor ...

pies A pie is a Baking, baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweetness, sweet or Savoury taste, savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts (pecan pie) ...

pancake A pancake, also known as a hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack, is a flat type of batter bread like cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based Batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk, and butter, and then cooked on a ...

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an Leavening agent, unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or Eggs as food, eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Pasta was originally on ...

polenta Polenta (, ) is an Italian cuisine, Italian dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. It may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried or Grilling, grilled. The variety of cereal used is ...

(known in Corsica as ''pulenda''), or used as thickener for

stew A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been Cooking, cooked in Soup, liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for ...

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Compan ...

s, and

sauce In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi- solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavour, texture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French wor ...

s. Chestnut cake may be prepared using chestnut flour. In Corsica, the flour is fried into

doughnut A doughnut or donut () is a type of pastry made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and fran ...

-like

fritter A fritter is a portion of meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables, or other ingredients which have been Batter (cooking), battered or breading, breaded, or just a portion of dough without further ingredients, that is deep-frying, deep-fried. Fritters ar ...

s called '' fritelli'' and made into '' necci, pattoni, ,'' and '' cialdi''. The flour can be light beige like that from Castagniccia, or darker in other regions. It is a good solution for long storage of a nutritious food. Chestnut bread can stay fresh as long as two weeks. The nuts can also be eaten candied, boiled, steamed, deep-fried, grilled, or roasted in sweet or savory recipes. They can be used to stuff vegetables, poultry, fowl, and other edibles. They are available fresh, dried, ground, or canned (whole or in puree). Candied chestnuts (whole chestnuts candied in sugar syrup, then iced) are sold under the French name '' marrons glacés'' or Turkish name ''kestane şekeri'' ("sugared chestnuts"). They appeared in France in the sixteenth century. Toward the end of nineteenth century,

went into a recession with the collapse of the textile market, notably silk. Clément Faugier, a civil engineer, was looking for a way 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 product are still accomplished manually). Chestnuts are picked in autumn, and candied from the start of the following summer for the ensuing Christmas. Thus, the ''marrons glacés'' eaten at Christmas are those picked the year before."C'est le mois – Les marrons glacés synonymes de fêtes de fin d'année"
By Marie-Françoise Briand. Article in review n° 110. In French. Castanyera

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, on 31 October on the eve of the

All Saints' Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the Church, whether they are know ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

celebrates ''la castanyada'', a festivity that consists of eating chestnuts, panellets,

sweet potatoes The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of the ...

and muscatell. On November, in the regions of Galicia,

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

and other Northern provinces and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, the '' Magosto'' is celebrated. In

Hungarian cuisine Hungarian or Magyar cuisine (Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Magyar konyha'') is the cuisine characteristic of the nation of Hungary, and its primary ethnic group, the Hungarians, Magyars. Hungarian cuisine has been described as being the P ...

, cooked chestnuts are

purée A purée (or mash) is cooked food, usually vegetables, fruits or legumes, that has been ground, pressed, blended or sieved to the consistency of a creamy paste or liquid. Purées of specific foods are often known by specific names, e.g., appl ...

d, mixed with sugar (and usually

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...

), forced through a ricer, and topped with

whipped cream Whipped cream, also known as Chantilly cream or (), is high-fat dairy cream that has been aerated by whisking until it becomes light, fluffy, and capable of holding its shape. This process incorporates air into the cream, creating a semi-soli ...

to make a dessert called ''gesztenyepüré'' (chestnut purée). In

Swiss cuisine Swiss cuisine (, , , ) is an ensemble of national, regional and local dishes, consisting of the ingredients, recipes and List of cooking techniques, cooking techniques developed in Switzerland or assimilated from other cultures, particularly ne ...

, a similar dish made with

kirsch ''Kirschwasser'' (, , ; German for 'cherry water'), or just ''Kirsch'' (; the term used in Switzerland and France, less so in Germany), is a clear, colourless brandy from Germany, Switzerland, and France, traditionally made from double distill ...

and

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

is called ''vermicelles''. A French version is known as "

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

". A fine granular sugar can be obtained from the fermentation of the juice,Facciola, S. ''Cornucopia – A Source Book of Edible Plants''. Kampong Publications, 1990. . Cited in ''Plants for a Future''. as well as a beer; the roasted fruit provides a coffee substitute. Parmentier, who among other things was a famous potato promoter, extracted

from chestnuts and sent a chestnut

sugarloaf A sugarloaf was the usual form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until the late 19th century, when granulated and cube sugars were introduced. A tall cone with a rounded top was the end product of a process in which dark molasses, ...

weighing several pounds to the

Academy of Lyon __NOTOC__ The Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Arts of Lyon (French: Académie des Sciences, Belles-Lettres et Arts de Lyon) is a French learned society founded in 1700. Its founders included: * Claude Brossette, lawyer, alderman of Lyons, an ...

.Antoine Parmentier. ''Traité de la châtaigne''. 1780. Bastia, Corsica. Cited in ''The Cambridge World History of Food'' – Chestnuts, edited by Kenneth F. Kipple and Kriemhild Connee Ornelas. The continental blockade following shortly after (1806–1814) increased the research into developing chestnuts as a source of sugar, but Napoleon chose

beet The beetroot (British English) or beet (North American English) is the taproot portion of a '' Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'' plant in the Conditiva Group. The plant is a root vegetable also known as the table beet, garden beet, dinner ...

s instead.''The Cambridge World History of Food'' – Chestnuts
Edited by Kenneth F. Kipple and Kriemhild Connee Ornelas. Sweet chestnuts are not easy to peel when cold. One kilogram of untainted chestnuts yields about 700 g of shelled chestnuts.

Animal fodder and litter

Chestnuts are often added to animal

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food ...

. A first soak in limewater removes their bitter flavour, then they are ground and mixed with the ordinary provender. Other methods of preparation are also used. It is given to horses and cattle in the Orient, and to pigs in England, France and other places. The leaves are not as prone to be insect-eaten as those of the oak, and are also used for fodder.

Timber

Chestnut is of the same family as oak, and likewise its wood contains many tannins. This renders the wood very durable, gives it excellent natural outdoor resistance,Sweet Chestnut production
in Farm Woodlands – CALU Technical Note ref: 050401. July 2006. and saves the need for other protection treatment. It also corrodes iron slowly, although copper, brass, or stainless metals are not affected. Chestnut timber is decorative. Light brown in color, it is sometimes confused with oak wood. The two woods' textures are similar. When in a growing stage, with very little sap wood, a chestnut tree contains more timber of a durable quality than an oak of the same dimensions. Young chestnut wood has proved more durable than oak for woodwork that has to be partly in the ground, such as stakes and fences. After most growth is achieved, older chestnut timber tends to split and warp when harvested. The timber becomes neither so hard nor so strong as oak. The American chestnut ''C. dentata'' served as an important source of lumber, because it has long, unbranched trunks. In Britain, chestnut was formerly used indiscriminately with oak for the construction of houses, millwork, and household furniture. It grows so freely in Britain that it was long considered a truly native species, partly because the roof of

Westminster Hall Westminster Hall is a medieval great hall which is part of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It was erected in 1097 for William II (William Rufus), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The building has had various functio ...

and the Parliament House of Edinburgh were mistakenly thought to be constructed of chestnut wood. Chestnut wood, however, loses much of its durability when the tree is more than 50 years old, and despite the local chestnut's quick growth rate, the

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

used for these two buildings is considerably larger than a 50-year-old chestnut's

girth Girth may refer to: Mathematics * Girth (functional analysis), the length of the shortest centrally symmetric simple closed curve on the unit sphere of a Banach space * Girth (geometry), the perimeter of a parallel projection of a shape * Girth ...

. It has been proven that the roofs of these buildings are made of Durmast oak, which closely resembles chestnut in

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

and color. It is therefore uncommon to find large pieces of chestnut in building structures, but it has always been highly valued for small outdoor furniture pieces, fencing, cladding (

shingles Shingles, also known as herpes zoster or zona, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. T ...

) for covering buildings, and pit-props, for which durability is an important factor. In Italy, chestnut is also used to make

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...

s used for aging

balsamic vinegar Balsamic vinegar () is a dark, concentrated, intensely flavoured vinegar made wholly or partially from Must, grape must: freshly crushed grape juice with all the skins, seeds, and stems. Etymology The Italian language, Italian word (from Lat ...

and some alcoholic beverages, such as

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

or lambic beer. Of note, the famous 18th-century "berles" in the French

are cupboards cut directly from the hollowed trunk.Chestnut museum in the Beaumedrobie country – France
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Fuel

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

Leather

Chestnut wood is a useful source of natural tannin and was used for tanning leather before the introduction of synthetic tannins. On a 10% moisture basis, the bark contains 6.8% tannin and the wood 13.4%.Rottsieper, E. H. W. ''Vegetable Tannins''. The Forestal Land, Timber and Railways Co. Ltd. 1946. Cited in ''Plants for a Future''. The bark imparts a dark color to the tannin, and has a higher sugar content, which increases the percentage of soluble non-tans, or impurities, in the extract; so it was not employed in this use.Chestnut
in Search Conservation OnLine. Chestnut tannin is obtained by hot-water extraction of chipped wood. It is an ellagic tannin and its main constituents are identified by

castalagin Castalagin is an ellagitannin, a type of hydrolyzable tannin, found in oak and chestnut wood and in the stem barks of ''Terminalia leiocarpa'' and ''Terminalia avicennoides''. Castalagin is the diastereomer of vescalagin in C-1 of the glycosidic c ...

(14.2%) and vescalagin (16.2%).
It has a naturally low pH value, relatively low salts content, and high acids content. This determines its astringency and its capability to fix raw hides. These properties make chestnut extract especially suitable for the tanning of heavy hides and to produce leather soles for high-quality shoes in particular. It is possible to obtain a leather with high yield in weight, which is compact, firm, flexible, and waterproof. Chestnut-tanned leathers are elastic, lightfast, resistant to traction and abrasion, and have warm color.Wilson, J. A. (1929)''The chemistry of leather manufacture.'' . American Chemical Society, Vol. I and II, second edition.McLaughlin, G. D. and E. R. Theis (1945). ''The chemistry of leather manufacture''. American Chemical Society. Chestnut tannin is one of the pyrogallol class of tannins (also known as hydrolysable tannin). As it tends to give a brownish tone to the

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

, it is most often used in combination with quebracho, mimosa, tara, myrabolans, and valonia.
The wood seems to reach its highest tannin content after the trees reach 30 years old. The southern European chestnut wood usually contains at least 10 to 13% more tannin than chestnut trees in northern climates.

Other uses

Fabric can be starched with chestnut

meal A meal is an occasion that takes place at a certain time and includes consumption of food. The English names used for specific meals vary, depending on the speaker's culture, the time of day, or the size of the meal. A meal is different from a ...

. Linen cloth can be whitened with chestnut meal. The leaves and the skins (husk and pellicle) of the fruits provide a hair shampoo.MacDonald, R. Chiej. ''Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants''. 1984. . Cited in ''Plants for a Future''. Hydrolysable chestnut tannins can be used for partial phenol substitution in

phenolic resin Phenol formaldehyde resins (PF), also called phenolic resins or phenoplasts, are synthetic polymers obtained by the reaction of phenol or substituted phenol with formaldehyde. Used as the basis for Bakelite, PFs were the first commercial synthetic ...

adhesives production and also for direct use as resin.Peña, C.; De La Caba, K.; Retegi, A.; Ocando, C.; Labidi J. and J. M. Echeverria
"Mimosa and chestnut tannin extracts reacted with hexamine in solution".
Mondragon. ''Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry'', Volume 96, issue 2 (May 2009), pp. 515–521. Chestnut buds have been listed as one of the 38 substances used to prepare Bach flower remedies, a kind of

alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...

promoted for its effect on health. However, according to

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organisation. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

, "there is no scientific evidence to prove that flower remedies can control, cure or prevent any type of disease, including cancer".

In culture

* In the film based on the novel by E. M. Forster, ''

Howards End ''Howards End'' is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. ''Howards End'' is considered by many to be Forster's masterpiece. The book wa ...

'', Mrs. Ruth Wilcox ( Vanessa Redgrave) tells of her childhood home, where superstitious farmers would place pigs' teeth in the bark of the chestnut trees and then chew on this bark to ease toothaches. In the novel, the tree is actually a

Wych elm ''Ulmus glabra'', the wych elm or Scots elm, has the widest range of the European elm species, from Ireland eastwards to the Ural Mountains, and from the Arctic Circle south to the mountains of the Peloponnese and Sicily, where the species reac ...

. * '' Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree'' is a set of variations, with fugue, for orchestra composed in 1939 by Jaromír Weinberger. * In

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...

's novel '' Père Goriot'', Vautrin states that Eugène de Rastignac's family is living off chestnuts; this symbolism is used to represent how impoverished Eugene's family is. * "

The Christmas Song "The Christmas Song" (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or, as it was originally subtitled, "Merry Christmas to You") is a Christmas song written in 1945 by Robert Wells (songwriter), Robert Wells and Mel Tormé. The Nat K ...

" famously mentions chestnuts in its opening line, and is commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire."

Notable specimens

* Hundred Horse Chestnut on

, 57.9 m (190 ft) circumference in 1780, (64-meter circumference in 1883)Chestnut tree on Mount Etna

Tortworth Chestnut
15.8-meter (52 ft) circumference in 1776, when it was described as "the largest tree in England"
. ''Ancient Tree Forum''. Woodland Trust. * Sacred Chestnut of Istán, circumference, estimated to be between 800 and 1,000 years old.Sacred Chestnut of Istan
.