Healing properties of food plants

Walnut plants

Common hazelnut

Man used hazel fruits for food in ancient times.

The hazel tree culture originally originated on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. The Circassians bred it already in the III-IV centuries. BC. From here he came to the Mediterranean countries.

Later, the hazel culture spread to other European countries.

Centuries-old folk selection has led to the creation of numerous valuable varieties of this plant.

Hazel is also called hazel.

It is a branched large shrub of the birch family with broad-oval leaves, dioecious flowers and fruits - single-seeded nuts.

Nuts come in a variety of shapes, smooth brown shells and a tasty buttery seed. Blossoms in April; fruits ripen in September.

In Russia, at present, wild-growing hazel is found in forests, ravines, mountains throughout the European part of the country (with the exception of the northern regions) and in the Caucasus.

We also have other types of wild hazelnuts, the fruits of which are eaten: bear hazel, Georgian hazel, Colchis hazel, Pontic hazel and Imeretian hazel (grow in different regions of the Caucasus), variegated hazel (found in Siberia and Primorye), Manchurian hazel (found in the Far East).

Since in the wild, hazel occupies large areas and has a significant yield, its culture has not yet become widespread.

Relatively small industrial cultivation of various varieties is concentrated mainly in the North Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Central Asia, Crimea, Moldova, Ukraine and central regions of Russia.

Soviet breeders bred many varieties of hazel, including those promising for cultivation in the northern regions of the country.

The nutritional value of hazel seeds is enormous.

They contain about 70% non-drying fatty oil, 15-16% proteins, 3.28% fiber, mineral salts, vitamin B 1.

The oil squeezed out of them tastes good and is easily absorbed by the body. It is eaten and also used for industrial purposes.

Halva is made from the oil cake remaining after pressing.

Eating nuts fresh or toasted is widespread.

Roasted nuts are very tasty; They are usually baked in ovens at a temperature of about 110 ° C, as a result of which the nuts acquire a peculiar taste.

Kernels are a valuable raw material for the food industry. They are used along with almonds in the manufacture of chocolate, sweets, cakes, pastries and other confectionery products.

Light and beautiful hazel wood is used for joinery and turning products.

The tannins found in the bark can be used in the tanning industry.

In folk medicine, nuts are often used against urolithiasis, and nuts with honey are used for rheumatism, anemia and as a general tonic.

Oil squeezed from hazel seeds mixed with egg white in household medicine treats burns.

This oil is also used to lubricate the scalp to strengthen the hair. Sometimes it is taken against worms (roundworm).

In Georgia, nuts are sometimes used as a carminative and to improve milk separation in lactating women.

In Azerbaijan, eyebrows and eyelashes are dyed with burnt dry hazelnuts.

The leaves and bark of hazel are also used for medicinal purposes. The leaves contain vitamin C (up to 200 mg%), an essential oil with a vasoconstrictor effect, the glycoside myricitroside; in the bark - essential oil, tannins and dyes, lignoceryl alcohol, betulin.

An infusion of leaves and bark of hazel (a tablespoon of crushed raw materials in a glass of boiling water) is recommended to drink 1 / 3-1 / 4 glass 3-4 times a day before meals with varicose veins, phlebitis and periphlebitis, trophic ulcers of the leg and capillary hemorrhages.

A decoction of the leaves is advised to take with prostatic hypertrophy.

From hazel by dry distillation, the preparation "L-2 Lesovaya" is obtained, consisting of two fractions: water and resin.

In medical practice, this drug is used to treat neurodermatitis, eczema, epidermophytosis and limited streptococcal skin lesions.

September 12 in Russia was considered Walnut Day. By this time, the core is finally filled with all the nutrients and a ruddy shell becomes. Procurement of nuts begins. The most exquisite delicacy is roasted walnut. It is not only delicious, but also the most useful and nutritious product.

Procurement of nuts. What does "roasted nut" mean?

It is not only people who start harvesting nuts in the fall. In the forest, only rustles are heard - it is the mouse nuts that are dragged into their holes, or the squirrel in the trees is choosing the ripe fruit. In Russia, the nuts found in a mouse hole were sold at a special price, were considered the most expensive, and were called “mouse”. The squirrel also chooses a nut in its own way: it hits the branches with its paw and watches which one stops swinging last, and collects the most ripe and delicious nuts with that one.

The most delicious dish in Russia was the roasted nut. Fried in a cast-iron pan, the fruits become juicier and more easily split. Master carvers made special clickers - figures in the form of soldiers, boyars. You put a nut in his mouth, press the handle on the back - the peeled kernels will fall right into the hand. The nutritiousness of the nut has long been known to everyone. They contain 70% fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins.

Pine nut

In nature, on the entire Earth, you will not find a more powerful healer than the cedar. In his strength, he knows no equal. Even Avicenna at one time recommended using the husk and kernel of pine nuts for treatment. As a general strengthening, cleansing agent for the body, he recommended daily use of 1 spoonful of kernels with light wine or honey. Siberian health is not just empty words. It is the Siberians who highly value the natural healer - Father Cedar. Local residents make "vegetable cream" from nuts, which stimulates the absorption of fatty substances, regulates the work of the thyroid gland and internal organs. Nut husks are also widely used in folk medicine. Pine nuts are considered the most expensive on the market. Its nutritional value is very high. The protein contained in pine nuts is digested by our body much easier and faster than that contained in the same walnuts, almonds and peanuts. The inhabitants of Siberia can only envy that roasted pine nuts are considered a familiar delicacy for them, it is not for nothing that they call it the best present and are always brought from these places to friends and acquaintances.

Useful properties of pine nuts

Siberian nut in its core contains up to 16% protein, 60% drying oil, starch, sugar, pentosans, fiber, vitamin C, various minerals. The kernels can be eaten raw. Someone prefers a roasted nut, its taste is richer, the husk is easier to remove. The physiological value of protein is very high, it contains eighteen amino acids, 70% of which are considered essential. The nut protein contains so much methionine, lysine, tryptophan, cystine that surpasses the protein composition of cow's milk. Cedar nut oil contains a large amount of tocopherols - fat-soluble vitamins, fatty acids that have antioxidant activity. By the content of tocopherols, cedar nut oil exceeds walnut oil by 1.5 times, and peanut oil by 5 times. It contains 3 times more essential fatty acids than peanut and 1.5 times more than sunflower. There is a record amount of phosphate phosphorus, so necessary for our body, in cedar nut oil, there is not so much in any product.

How to cook nuts

Boiled pine nuts have a delicate taste, and the husk becomes much softer, it is easier to get the nucleolus. For the future, they are harvested in a pure form, since they are not stored in cones for long. In the taiga, Siberians build hand mills, where the cones are crushed and then sieved.

Roasted nuts have a very tough shell, so some people like to cook them. To do this, you need to take as many nuts as you plan to eat. Pour them into a saucepan, add water and cook for 15-20 minutes. The nuts become soft, it is better to split them across, so the nucleolus does not wrinkle and remains intact.

To make the nuts easily removed from the cones, you can boil them. Only a saucepan for these purposes needs to be made a separate one (cedar resin is unlikely to be washed off the walls). Cones are boiled for a long time - two hours. Then the fruits are easily extracted. Many people prefer to burn the nuts in the oven afterwards.

How to roast nuts

We will tell those who prefer roasted nuts how to make such a delicacy: you can fry nuts both in a pan and in the oven. Pour a thin layer into the pan; you do not need to pour oil. Stir constantly. The process lasts 10-15 minutes. As soon as you hear a crack, you can try. At the end of frying, sprinkle with a little water (this will soften the shell), cover with a towel. If frying in the oven, first heat the oven, then put a baking sheet there, on which nuts are poured in an even layer. Heat for 10 minutes, then turn off heat and leave to cool. For softness, you can also sprinkle with water at the end of frying.

Here are some tips for cracking pine nuts:

• Pre-calcined nuts are poured with water for a while: the shell becomes softer and more pliable.
• Place whole buds in the oven or oven. Nuts acquire a special aroma and are then easier to peel from the shell.
• In Buryatia, nuts are poured with a glass of boiling water for 15 minutes. After that, it is split with teeth from the blunt side of the fetus.
• Pliers that have a notch on the lips can be used. In size, it is just slightly smaller than a nut and easily cracks it.

Pine nuts practically have no contraindications. But sometimes, with excessive use, you can feel a violation of taste, a bitter, metallic taste in the mouth. These violations go away on their own in a few days.

This plant has many names.- water or damn walnut, rogulnik, horned nut, water chestnut, chillim, stone, and also hardened walnut. Chilim is listed in the Red Book of our country. Its range has decreased even more in recent decades. There are many reasons for this: there is pollution and shallowing of water bodies, excessive collection of fruits, the use of leaves for livestock feed (this is absolutely barbaric), the destruction of plants by muskrats, who liked it very much (until the 30s of the last century, this animal was not in Europe- it was brought here from North America), damage to its plantings by nets and when clearing reservoirs.

In general, this aquatic plant has a very wide, albeit broken geographic range, distributed in many countries of the world from the tropics to the temperate zone. It grows in India, China, Japan, the entire southeast of Africa, throughout South and Central Europe, the Caucasus, the middle and southern Volga region, Krasnodar Territory, southern Siberia, the Far East, introduced in North America and Australia. To the north it reaches the northern borders of Belarus and the southeast of the Pskov region, where it is common in the upper reaches of the Lovat River, about 30-50 km south of the city of Velikiye Luki, on the Vorokhoba and Pylets lakes, as well as in the adjacent rivers and other bodies of water ... It is very rare, although sometimes in large thickets.

In the more northern regions, the nut does not grow at present, however, archaeological excavations show that in not so distant times it was quite widespread in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic States and in a significant part of the North-West of our country. The disappearance of chilim in these regions was caused by the above reasons (first of all, of course, the person is to blame.- the nut was simply "eaten"), as well as a temporary cold snap in the past centuries. But if he grew up here earlier, then it is likely that he can be reintroduced, i.e. dilute again in these areas. Moreover, as the experience of more southern countries shows, water walnut lends itself well to cultivation and can become a very promising agricultural crop. So, even in the wild, in the Volga delta, it produces up to 4 tons of fruits from 1 hectare of water surface, and from cultivated areas, the yield, undoubtedly, should be much higher, this is confirmed by the data on its culture in India, China and other countries.

Water walnut- an annual growing in various water bodies at depths from 0.3 to 1.0 m. It is thermophilic, germinates only at a water temperature of at least 10 ... 12 ° C. Drupes, in common parlance, nuts, up to 3 cm long, consist of a core enclosed in a dark hard shell, on which, depending on the subspecies, there are from one to four thorns (ours has 4) of various shapes- straight, curved, twisted, etc. When germinating from the shell, a long, arcuate growing embryonic root appears first, then a thin long stem, and on it- underwater filamentous leaves, which, however, die off quickly. Instead, feathery, leafy, chlorophyll-containing roots grow. In addition to them, ordinary brown filamentous roots are formed on the stem, with which the plant attaches to the ground. And on the surface of the water, rosettes of dense, glossy floating leaves of a regular diamond shape with swollen petioles filled with air develop. From their base emerge and at the end of May bloom funnel-shaped flowers with four sepals, four white petals (8-10 mm in diameter) and the same number of stamens. After fertilization (mostly self-pollination), they sink into the water, where the fruit grows and ripens.

On each plant 10-15 "nuts" are usually tied. The whole plant is kept by last year's nut and nourishing roots as if anchored, however, when the water rises, it can break away from the ground with them and swim to a new place, where it is fixed again.

In autumn, the leaves and stems first turn crimson-red, and then die off, as a result of which the fruits fall to the bottom, fixing there with thorns. Collect them shortly before- in mid-September. Taken out of the water, they quickly lose their germination, but in bottom sediments they can survive for 10, and according to some literary sources even 50 years, without losing the ability to germinate. From one reservoir to another, the water nut is most likely distributed by large wild waterfowl (geese and ducks), in whose stomachs its undigested fruits have been repeatedly found.

Inside each nut is a delicious and highly nutritious white seed containing 15% protein, 7.5% fat, 52% starch, 3% sugar and 22.5% water. The taste of the fruit is very similar to the European chestnut, which is why chillim is sometimes called "water chestnut". Nuts can be eaten fresh, boiled, fried, eaten with salt and pepper; cook various culinary products from them, cook soup, use them to prepare various sauces. In ancient times, their kernels were crushed into cereals, ground into flour, from which they baked bread, which tastes like wheat.

In the recent past, when there was still a lot of rogulnik, drugs were made from it for the treatment of atherosclerosis.- trapazid, and in folk medicine it was used as an effective remedy for dysentery and other diseases. In addition, water walnut rosettes are very decorative and can decorate any backyard pond.

I would very much like to hope that there will be people who are able not only to preserve and preserve, but also to settle the water nut much wider than its current range, and maybe even to cultivate it. It's a shame that in our country it has become a great rarity, while in China there is a whole technology for its cultivation.- there the nut was domesticated, varieties with large seeds, thin shells without thorns were bred.

You can try to bring seeds for planting from the Volga region, there are still significant thickets of it in places, in vessels with water or wrapped in wet moss, etc. But it is much better to plant, although it is very difficult to get, planting material from the population of the Pskov region (you can from Northern Belarus). In this case, there will be a much greater chance that the introduced plants will easily take root. It should be borne in mind that swimming in places where there is a lot of ragulnik is unsafe- you can injure your feet on sharp thorns. For the same reason, it should not be planted in places of mass bathing of people.

V. Starostin , candidate of agricultural sciences. sciences

Other publications of V.A. Starostin look at his personal page

Look for planting material for nuts in the section "Nurseries. Seedlings"

September 12 in Russia was considered Walnut Day. By this time, the core is finally filled with all the nutrients and a ruddy shell becomes. Procurement of nuts begins. The most exquisite delicacy is roasted walnut. It is not only delicious, but also the most useful and nutritious product.

Procurement of nuts. What does "roasted nut" mean?

It is not only people who start harvesting nuts in the fall. In the forest, only rustles are heard - it is the mouse nuts that are dragged into their holes, or the squirrel in the trees is choosing the ripe fruit. In Russia, nuts found in nuts were sold at a special price, were considered the most expensive, and were called "mouse". The squirrel also chooses a nut in its own way: it hits the branches with its paw and watches which one stops swinging last, and collects the most ripe and delicious nuts with that one.

The most delicious dish in Russia was the roasted nut. Fried in a cast-iron pan, the fruits become juicier and more easily split. Master carvers made special clickers - figures in the form of soldiers, boyars. You put a nut in his mouth, press the handle on the back - the peeled kernels will fall right into the hand. The nutritiousness of the nut has long been known to everyone. They contain 70% fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins.

Pine nut

In nature, on the entire Earth, you will not find a more powerful healer than the cedar. In his strength, he knows no equal. Even Avicenna at one time recommended the use of husks for treatment and As a general strengthening, cleansing agent for the body, he recommended daily use of 1 spoonful of kernels with light wine or honey. Siberian health is not just empty words. It is the Siberians who highly value the natural healer - Father Cedar. Local residents make "vegetable cream" from nuts, which stimulates the absorption of fatty substances, regulates the work of the thyroid gland and internal organs. Nut husks are also widely used in folk medicine. Pine nuts are considered the most expensive on the market. Its nutritional value is very high. The protein contained in pine nuts is digested by our body much easier and faster than that contained in the same walnuts and peanuts. The inhabitants of Siberia can only envy that roasted pine nuts are considered a familiar delicacy for them, it is not for nothing that they call it the best present and are always brought from these places to friends and acquaintances.

Useful properties of pine nuts

Siberian nut in its core contains up to 16% protein, 60% drying oil, starch, sugar, pentosans, fiber, vitamin C, various minerals. The kernels can be eaten raw. Someone prefers a roasted nut, its taste is richer, the husk is easier to remove. The physiological value of protein is very high, it contains eighteen amino acids, 70% of which are considered essential. The nut protein contains so much methionine, lysine, tryptophan, cystine that surpasses the protein composition of cow's milk. Cedar nut oil contains a large amount of tocopherols - fat-soluble vitamins, fatty acids that have antioxidant activity. In terms of tocopherol content, it exceeds walnut 1.5 times, and peanut 5 times. It contains 3 times more essential fatty acids than peanut and 1.5 times more than sunflower. There is a record amount of phosphate phosphorus, so necessary for our body, in cedar nut oil, there is not so much in any product.

How to cook nuts

Boiled pine nuts have a delicate taste, and the husk becomes much softer, it is easier to get the nucleolus. For the future, they are harvested in a pure form, since they are not stored in cones for long. In the taiga, Siberians build hand mills, where the cones are crushed and then sieved.

Roasted nuts have a very tough shell, so some people like to cook them. To do this, you need to take as many nuts as you plan to eat. Pour them into a saucepan, add water and cook for 15-20 minutes. The nuts become soft, it is better to split them across, so the nucleolus does not wrinkle and remains intact.

To make the nuts easily removed from the cones, you can boil them. Only a saucepan for these purposes needs to be made a separate one (cedar resin is unlikely to be washed off the walls). Cones are boiled for a long time - two hours. Then the fruits are easily extracted. Many people prefer to burn the nuts in the oven afterwards.

How to roast nuts

We will tell those who prefer roasted nuts how to make such a delicacy: you can fry nuts both in a pan and in the oven. Pour a thin layer into the pan; you do not need to pour oil. Stir constantly. The process lasts 10-15 minutes. As soon as you hear a crack, you can try. At the end of frying, sprinkle with a little water (this will soften the shell), cover with a towel. If frying in the oven, first heat the oven, then put a baking sheet there, on which nuts are poured in an even layer. Heat for 10 minutes, then turn off heat and leave to cool. For softness, you can also sprinkle with water at the end of frying.

A few tips on how to prick:

• Pre-calcined nuts are poured with water for a while: the shell becomes softer and more pliable.
• Place whole buds in the oven or oven. Nuts acquire a special aroma and are then easier to peel from the shell.
• In Buryatia, nuts are poured with a glass of boiling water for 15 minutes. After that, it is split with teeth from the blunt side of the fetus.
• Pliers that have a notch on the lips can be used. In size, it is just slightly smaller than a nut and easily cracks it.

Pine nuts practically have no contraindications. But sometimes, with excessive use, you can feel a violation of taste sensations, bitter, These disorders disappear on their own in a few days.

roasted nuts

In Russia, September 12 was considered a "nut day". By about this day, the kernel of the nuts is finally poured and the shell is covered with a brown-red blush. Mass harvesting of nuts begins. Not only people are engaged in harvesting nuts. Here and there long, flexible branches of hazel tremble. Among the bushes, you can see a jay, nuthatch or nuthatch. And below, with the rustling of dry fallen leaves, mice betray themselves. More than once, people had to find pantries with selected vigorous nuts in mouse nests. And in the old days in the Crimean bazaars the so-called mouse nuts collected in 122 mouse nests were sold at a higher price than the usual ones.

With great skill he harvests protein nuts. Striking the branches with a paw, the squirrel notices which of them will stop swinging last. From this branch she collects the largest and ripe nuts.

In Russia, roasted nuts were considered an exquisite delicacy. When preheated in a cast iron skillet, they taste better and crack more easily. To make it easier to chop nuts, special nutcrackers were sold at the bazaars. In the village of Bogorodskoye near Moscow, master carvers carved nutcrackers from wood in the form of a soldier or a master. It is enough to put a nut in the mouth of such a nutcracker and press the lever from behind, as the nut cracks quite easily.

“A small pot, but the porridge is delicious,” says the folk riddle. Nuts are delicious as well as nutritious. IV Michurin called nuts “the bread of the future”. Judge for yourself - the nutritional value of nuts is three times higher than that of bread, one and a half times that of pork, ten times of milk! They contain proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and up to 70% fats. Already now flour and milk from hazel nuts are used in dietary nutrition. When nuts are squeezed, cake is obtained, which goes to halva. Walnut oil is used in the food industry and as a solvent for painting.

Hazelnut has valuable wood, but due to the small diameter of the trunk, its use is rather limited.

Hazel is a sapwood breed. The color of the wood is white with a pinkish or light brown tint. At the end, sinuous annual layers are clearly distinguished, delimited by narrow dark stripes of late wood.