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 involucre and thus not morphologically part of the carpel; this means it cannot be a drupe but is instead a drupe-like nut.
After full ripening, the shell is discarded, and the kernel is eaten. Nuts of the eastern black walnut ( Juglans nigra ) and butternuts ( Juglans cinerea ) are less commonly consumed.
Walnuts are the round, single-seed stone fruits of the walnut tree. They ripen between September and November in the northern hemisphere. The brown, wrinkly walnut shell is enclosed in a husk. [1] Shells of walnuts available in commerce usually have two segments (but three or four-segment shells can also form). During the ripening process, the husk becomes brittle and the shell hard. The shell encloses the kernel or meat, which is usually in two halves separated by a membranous partition. [1] The seed kernels – commonly available as shelled walnuts – are enclosed in a brown seed coat which contains antioxidants. The antioxidants protect the oil-rich seed from atmospheric oxygen, preventing rancidity. [2]
Walnut trees are late to grow leaves, typically not doing so until more than halfway through the spring.
Walnut hulls contain diverse phytochemicals, such as polyphenols, that stain hands and can cause skin irritation. Seven phenolic compounds, including ferulic acid, vanillic acid, coumaric acid, syringic acid, myricetin, and juglone, were identified in walnut husks; juglone had concentrations of 2-4% fresh weight. [3]
Walnuts also contain the ellagitannin, pedunculagin. [4] Regiolone has been isolated with juglone, betulinic acid and sitosterol from the stem bark of J. regia. [5]
The three species of walnuts most commonly grown for their seeds are the Persian (or English) walnut ( J. regia ), originating from Iran, the black walnut ( J. nigra ) – native to eastern North America – and the Japanese walnut, also known as the heartnut ( J. ailantifolia ). [6] Other species include J. californica , the California black walnut (often used as a rootstock for commercial propagation of J. regia), J. cinerea (butternuts), and J. major, the Arizona walnut. Other sources list J. californica californica as native to southern California, and Juglans californica hindsii, or just J. hindsii, as native to northern California; in at least one case, these are given as "geographic variants" instead of subspecies (Botanica).[ citation needed ]
Numerous walnut cultivars have been developed commercially, which are nearly all hybrids of the English walnut. [7]
During the Byzantine era, the walnut was also known by the name "royal nut". [8] An article on walnut tree cultivation in Spain is included in Ibn al-'Awwam's 12th-century Book on Agriculture. [9] The wal element in the name is Germanic and means foreign, especially in the sense of Latin or non-Germanic. Compare, for example, Wales, Walloons, Wallachia. The wal element is present in other Germanic-language words for the same nut, such as: German Walnuss, Dutch walnoot, Danish valnød, and Swedish valnöt.
Walnuts, like other tree nuts, must be processed and stored properly. Poor storage makes walnuts susceptible to insect and fungal mold infestations; the latter produces aflatoxin – a potent carcinogen. A batch that contains mold-infested walnuts should be entirely discarded. [2]
The ideal temperature for the extended storage of walnuts is −3 to 0 °C (27 to 32 °F) with low humidity for industrial and home storage. However, such refrigeration technologies are unavailable in developing countries where walnuts are produced in large quantities; walnuts are best stored below 25 °C (77 °F) with low humidity. Temperatures above 30 °C (86 °F) and humidity levels above 70 percent can lead to rapid and high spoilage losses. Above 75 percent humidity threshold, fungal molds that release aflatoxin can form. [2] [10]
Country | millions of tonnes |
---|---|
China | 1.40 |
United States | 0.68 |
Iran | 0.36 |
Turkey | 0.34 |
Mexico | 0.18 |
World | 3.9 |
Source: FAOSTAT of the United Nations [15] |
In 2022, world production of walnuts (in shell) was 3.9 million tonnes, with China contributing 36% of the total (table). Other significant producers (in the order of decreasing harvest) were the United States, Iran, and Turkey. [15]
Nutritional value per 100 grams | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Energy | 2,738 kJ (654 kcal) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13.71 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Starch | 0.06 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sugars | 2.61 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dietary fiber | 6.7 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
65.21 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saturated | 6.126 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monounsaturated | 8.933 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Polyunsaturated | 47.174 g 9 g 38 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15.23 g | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other constituents | Quantity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Water | 4.07 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults, [16] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies. [17] |
English walnuts without shells are 4% water, 15% protein, 65% fat, and 14% carbohydrates, including 7% dietary fiber (table). In a reference amount of 100 g (3.5 oz), walnuts provide 654 kilocalories (2,740 kJ) and rich contents (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of several dietary minerals, particularly manganese at 148% DV, along with significant amounts of B vitamins (table).
Unlike most nuts, which are high in monounsaturated fatty acids, walnut oil is composed largely of polyunsaturated fatty acids (72% of total fats), particularly alpha-linolenic acid (14%) and linoleic acid (58%), although it does contain oleic acid as 13% of total fats (table source).
In 2004, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided a qualified health claim allowing products containing walnuts to state: "Supportive but not conclusive research shows that eating 1.5 ounces (43 g) per day of walnuts, as part of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet and not resulting in increased caloric intake, may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease." [18] At the same time, the agency refused to authorize the claim that "Diets including walnuts can reduce the risk of heart disease" [19] and in 2010, it sent a warning letter to Diamond Foods stating there is "not sufficient evidence to identify a biologically active substance in walnuts that reduces the risk of coronary heart disease." [20]
In 2011, a scientific panel for the European Food Safety Authority recommended a health claim that "Walnuts contribute to the improvement of endothelium-dependent vasodilation" at a daily intake of 30 grams (1.1 oz); it also found that a cause and effect relationship did not exist between consuming walnuts and reduction of blood LDL-cholesterol levels. [21] The recommended health claim was later authorized by the European Commission. [22]
A 2020 systematic review assessing the effect of walnut supplementation on blood pressure found insufficient evidence to support walnut consumption as a blood pressure-lowering strategy. [23]
As of 2021 [update] , the relationship between walnut consumption and cognitive health is inconclusive. [24]
Walnut meats are available in two forms: in their shells or de-shelled. Due to processing, the meats may be whole, halved, or in smaller portions. All walnuts can be eaten on their own (raw, toasted, or pickled), or as part of a mix such as muesli, or as an ingredient of a dish: e.g. walnut soup, walnut pie, walnut coffee cake, banana cake, brownie, fudge. Walnuts are often candied or pickled. Pickled walnuts that are the whole fruit can be savory or sweet depending on the preserving solution.
Walnuts may be used as an ingredient in other foodstuffs. Walnut is an important ingredient in baklava, Circassian chicken, potica (a traditional festive pastry from Slovenia), satsivi (chicken in walnut sauce), tarator (a summer soup in Bulgarian cuisine), and poultry or meat ball stew from Iranian cuisine.
Walnuts are also popular as an ice cream topping, and walnut pieces are used as a garnish on some foods. [25]
Nocino is a liqueur made from unripe green walnuts steeped in alcohol with syrup added.
Walnut oil is available commercially and is chiefly used as a food ingredient, particularly in salad dressings. It has a low smoke point, which limits its use for frying. [26] [27]
Walnut husks can be used to make durable ink for writing and drawing. It is thought to have been used by artists including Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt. [28]
Walnut husk pigments are used as a brown dye for fabric [29] and were used in classical Rome and medieval Europe for dyeing hair. [30]
The US Army once used ground walnut shells for abrasive blasting to clean aviation parts because of low cost and low abrasive qualities. However, an investigation of a fatal Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter crash (11 September 1982, in Mannheim, Germany) revealed that walnut shell grit had clogged an oil port, leading to the accident and the discontinuation of walnut shells as a cleaning agent. [31]
Commercially, crushed walnut shells are still used outside of aviation for low-abrasive, less-toxic cleaning and blasting applications. [32] In the oil and gas industry, deep bed filters of ground walnut shell are used for "polishing" (filtering) oily contaminates from water. [33]
At least two companies, LitterMaid and Naturally Fresh, make cat litter from ground walnut shells. [34] [35] Advantages cited over conventional clay litter include environmental sustainability of using what would otherwise be a waste product, superior natural biodegradability, and odor control as good or better than clay litter. [36] Disadvantages include the possibility of allergic reactions among humans and cats. [37]
Walnuts have been listed as one of the 38 substances used to prepare Bach flower remedies, [38] a herbal remedy promoted in folk medicine practices for its supposed effect on health. According to Cancer Research UK, "there is no scientific evidence to prove that flower remedies can control, cure or prevent any type of disease, including cancer". [39]
Large, symmetrically shaped, and sometimes intricately carved walnut shells (mainly from J. hopeiensis ) are valued collectibles in China where they are rotated in hand as a plaything or as decoration. They are also an investment and status symbol, with some carvings having high monetary value if unique. [40] Pairs of walnuts are sometimes sold in their green husks for a form of gambling known as du qing pi. [41]
In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food.
Omega−3 fatty acids, also called omega−3 oils, ω−3 fatty acids or n−3 fatty acids, are polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) characterized by the presence of a double bond three atoms away from the terminal methyl group in their chemical structure. They are widely distributed in nature, being important constituents of animal lipid metabolism, and they play an important role in the human diet and in human physiology. The three types of omega−3 fatty acids involved in human physiology are α-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). ALA can be found in plants, while DHA and EPA are found in algae and fish. Marine algae and phytoplankton are primary sources of omega−3 fatty acids. DHA and EPA accumulate in fish that eat these algae. Common sources of plant oils containing ALA include walnuts, edible seeds, and flaxseeds as well as hempseed oil, while sources of EPA and DHA include fish and fish oils, and algae oil.
A sunflower seed is a seed from a sunflower. There are three types of commonly used sunflower seeds: linoleic, high oleic, and sunflower oil seeds. Each variety has its own unique levels of monounsaturated, saturated, and polyunsaturated fats. The information in this article refers mainly to the linoleic variety.
Dietary fiber or roughage is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical composition and can be grouped generally by their solubility, viscosity and fermentability which affect how fibers are processed in the body. Dietary fiber has two main subtypes: soluble fiber and insoluble fiber which are components of plant-based foods such as legumes, whole grains, cereals, vegetables, fruits, and nuts or seeds. A diet high in regular fiber consumption is generally associated with supporting health and lowering the risk of several diseases. Dietary fiber consists of non-starch polysaccharides and other plant components such as cellulose, resistant starch, resistant dextrins, inulin, lignins, chitins, pectins, beta-glucans, and oligosaccharides.
A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill, capsule, tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients either extracted from food sources, or that are synthetic. The classes of nutrient compounds in supplements include vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, and amino acids. Dietary supplements can also contain substances that have not been confirmed as being essential to life, and so are not nutrients per se, but are marketed as having a beneficial biological effect, such as plant pigments or polyphenols. Animals can also be a source of supplement ingredients, such as collagen from chickens or fish for example. These are also sold individually and in combination, and may be combined with nutrient ingredients. The European Commission has also established harmonized rules to help insure that food supplements are safe and appropriately labeled.
Walnut trees are any species of tree in the plant genus Juglans, the type genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are referred to as walnuts. All species are deciduous trees, 10–40 metres (33–131 ft) tall, with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres (7.9–35.4 in), with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts (Pterocarya), but not the hickories (Carya) in the same family.
Margarine is a spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The spread was originally named oleomargarine from Latin for oleum and Greek margarite. The name was later shortened to margarine.
The pecan is a species of hickory native to the southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River.
A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds between the carbon atoms. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone and fatty acids that each contain a long linear or branched chain of carbon (C) atoms. Along the chain, some carbon atoms are linked by single bonds (-C-C-) and others are linked by double bonds (-C=C-). A double bond along the carbon chain can react with a pair of hydrogen atoms to change into a single -C-C- bond, with each H atom now bonded to one of the two C atoms. Glyceride fats without any carbon chain double bonds are called saturated because they are "saturated with" hydrogen atoms, having no double bonds available to react with more hydrogen.
Juglans nigra, the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to North America. It grows mostly in riparian zones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south to Georgia, northern Florida and southwest to central Texas. Wild trees in the upper Ottawa Valley may be an isolated native population or may have derived from planted trees.
Juglans cinerea, commonly known as butternut or white walnut, is a species of walnut native to the eastern United States and southeast Canada.
Juglans regia, the Persian walnut, English walnut, Carpathian walnut, Madeira walnut, or, especially in Great Britain, common walnut, is an Old World walnut tree species native to the region stretching from the Caucasus eastward to the Kashmir region. It is widely cultivated across Asia, Northern America and Europe.
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an omega−3 fatty acid that is an important component of the human brain, cerebral cortex, skin, and retina. It is given the fatty acid notation 22:6(n−3). It can be synthesized from alpha-linolenic acid or obtained directly from maternal milk (breast milk), fatty fish, fish oil, or algae oil. The consumption of DHA (e.g., from fatty fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel and sardines) contributes to numerous physiological benefits, including cognition. As a component of neuronal membranes, the function of DHA is to support neuronal conduction and to allow the optimal functioning of neuronal membrane proteins (such as receptors and enzymes).
Juglone, also called 5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthalenedione (IUPAC) is a phenolic organic compound with the molecular formula C10H6O3. In the food industry, juglone is also known as C.I. Natural Brown 7 and C.I. 75500. It is insoluble in benzene but soluble in dioxane, from which it crystallizes as yellow needles. It is an isomer of lawsone, which is the active dye compound in the henna leaf.
Juglans australis, the nogal criollo, is a species of plant in the Juglandaceae family. This large, fast-growing tree can grow to 20 m (66 ft) tall at elevations of 0.5—1.5 km in the Southern Andean Yungas, montane cloud forests on the eastern slopes of the Andes in Tucumán, Salta, and Jujuy provinces of Argentina and Tarija and Chuquisaca departments of Bolivia. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Juglans hindsii, commonly called the Northern California black walnut and Hinds's black walnut, is a species of walnut tree native to the western United States. It is commonly called claro walnut by the lumber industry and woodworkers, and is the subject of some confusion over its being the root stock for English walnut orchard stock.
A health claim found on a food labels and in food marketing is a claim by a food manufacturer that their product will reduce the risk of developing a disease or condition.
Cooking oil is a plant or animal liquid fat used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. Oil allows higher cooking temperatures than water, making cooking faster and more flavorful, while likewise distributing heat, reducing burning and uneven cooking. It sometimes imparts its own flavor. Cooking oil is also used in food preparation and flavoring not involving heat, such as salad dressings and bread dips.
Husk 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 of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes the protective outer covering of a seed, fruit, or vegetable.
Trans fat, also called trans-unsaturated fatty acids, or trans fatty acids, is a type of unsaturated fat that occurs in foods. Trace concentrations of trans fats occur naturally, but large amounts are found in some processed foods. Since consumption of trans fats is unhealthy, artificial trans fats are highly regulated or banned in many nations. However, they are still widely consumed in developing nations, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. The World Health Organization (WHO) had set a goal to make the world free from industrially produced trans fat by the end of 2023. The goal was not met, and the WHO announced another goal "for accelerated action till 2025 to complete this effort" along with associated support on 1 February 2024.
the evidence supporting a relationship between walnuts and coronary heart disease is related to the omega-3 fatty acid content of walnuts. There is not sufficient evidence to identify a biologically active substance in walnuts that reduces the risk of coronary heart disease. Therefore, the above statement is an unauthorized health claim
walnut.