All nuts are good. But each species has its own characteristics. What is the benefit and harm of hazelnuts? It is useful because of the high content of vitamins, fats, proteins, carbohydrates. Useful not only hazelnuts, but bark, leaves, plus.
Hazelnut, what is this nut?
Hazelnuts are cultivars of wild hazel or common hazel. This is a large shrub with a powerful ramified root system. It grows like a multi-stemmed bush, forming a lot of shoots with which it propagates. Hazelnuts are a wind-pollinated monoecious plant. It blooms very early, sometimes at the end of January, and mass flowering begins in February and early March - before the leaf buds open. The hazelnut fruit is a nut covered with a plush.
The benefits of hazelnuts
Hazelnuts are tasty, healthy, nutritious. They contain 65-73% of fats (oils), 18-22% of proteins, 2-5% of carbohydrates (starch and sugar). There are vitamins A, B, C, D, E, mineral salts. This leads to its high calorie content as a food product. The caloric content of hazelnut kernels exceeds pork 1.5 times, soybeans 1.8 times, wheat bread 3.5 times, beef 3.8 times, chicken eggs 4.5 times, potatoes 8.5 times, apples - 15 times. For reference: 350-400 g of nuts satisfy the daily nutritional needs of an adult.
The hazelnut kernel contains all twenty amino acids from which complete proteins are formed. It retains its taste during storage, even under normal room conditions. Nuts are easily absorbed by our body, no matter how they are cooked. It is an unrivaled high quality product.
There is a lot of vitamin C in the roots and onion of hazelnuts. Leaves and roots contain tannins.
In folk medicine, hazelnuts (hazel) are used for urolithiasis, a decoction of dried buns - for diarrhea, bark - against fever, leaves - as an antiseptic.
Walnut, ground with water, is used for hemoptysis, flatulence, bronchitis, and febrile conditions.
Shredded nut mixed with honey is recommended for anemia, rheumatism.
A decoction of hazelnut bark, collected in the spring, is used for malaria.
Walnut oil is an anthelmintic (from roundworm).
The crushed fruits mixed with egg white were used for burns.
Not only hazelnuts are useful. The bark has astringent, anti-dysenteric, antipyretic properties. Infusions of the cortex are used for varicose veins, varicose ulcers, and tumors.
Hazelnut leaves (hazel) are used to treat intestinal diseases, anemia, vitamin deficiency, rickets. Decoction - with hypertrophy of the prostate gland. Ointment - for cancer. Powder from dried bun or shell broth and bun - for colitis.
Beekeepers in early spring often harvest pollen from hazelnuts or hazel for feeding bee juveniles. This pollen is very useful for people: these vegetable male reproductive products contain a lot of zinc, which is part of many enzymes that help solve the problem of infertility, making sluggish sperm cells mobile.
Hazelnuts are good for healing.
And here are a few folk recipes.
Jaundice
Dry the fresh leaves of hazelnuts or hazel. Pour a teaspoon of powdered leaves into a glass of white wine, leave all night. Divided into three parts, taken daily before meals for three doses. After two weeks, jaundice passes.
Varicose veins
- Collect hazelnut leaves in May. Two tablespoons of leaves pour 0.5 liters of boiling water, leave for 2 hours. Drink half a cup 4 times a day before meals.
- One tablespoon of chopped hazelnut bark pour 0.5 liters of boiling water, cook for 10 minutes, strain. Drink half a cup 4 times a day before meals.
Adenoma
Collected in June, hazelnut leaves to dry in the shade. One tablespoon of crushed leaves pour a glass of boiling water. Heat in a water bath for 15 minutes. Drink 1/3 cup per day.
Biological features of hazelnuts
This is a relatively winter-hardy plant. In our region, in the Krasnodar Territory, no freezing of hazelnut wood was noticed, although frost inflorescences of male inflorescences occurred in the lowland areas. When propagated by seeds, the plant does not retain the properties of the mother plant, and fruiting with this method of reproduction occurs late.
Hazelnuts bear fruit well on fairly fertile, moist soils. It can be flat areas or slopes. The southern slopes are not very suitable for its cultivation, since here the buds wake up too early - they can be damaged by return frosts. Waterlogged, swampy areas are unfavorable for him. Hazelnuts grow well on light soils.
Hazelnut fruit - a nut covered with a wrapper - a plush. Mass harvesting occurs in late August and early September. An indicator of the physiological maturity of the fruit is the browning (yellowing) of the wrapper - pluses and loss of individual nuts.
The need for hazelnuts is very high. Harvest of nuts from one bush at a high agricultural background is 5-12 kg, in dry conditions (dry) on arable land - 3-5 kg, on unproductive - 2-3 kg.
Yields of hazelnuts: in my country house I was picking a bucket of nuts from a bush in a good year.
It is often asked what year the hazelnut bears fruit. Hazelnuts begin to bear fruit from 3-5 years with vegetative propagation, from 6-10 - with seed. The highest yields are obtained when it reaches the age of 12-35 years.
Hazelnut bush annually forms a large number (up to 100-150) of zero root shoots. To obtain a high yield, the number of basal branches (trunks) must be maintained at the level of 8-10, but no more than 12 pieces in the bush.
The longevity of the bush due to the intensive formation of rhizome shoots is practically unlimited. In general, hazelnuts are immortal. In practice, the life span of the bush is 150-180 years, without rejuvenation of the trunks - 60-80 years.
Thus, hazelnut bushes can live in one place for a very long time. But gradually the soil is depleted, the soil is being compacted: diseases, pests are accumulating; the regenerative ability of plants decreases (the ability to form new zero shoots). Reduced yield, drying out of skeletal branches begins at the age of 20-25 years, and after irrigation 5-10 years later. In the first case, bush rejuvenation is started at 20, and in the second, at 30. When rejuvenating, the basal branches (trunks) are replaced alternately, as they dry out, growing in return from the shoots.
Scientists have experimented a lot to increase the yield of hazelnuts. The decision did not come immediately. They began to plant seedlings after 1-2 m in a row. Then only those plants were left in which the branches were naturally tilted down. The remaining plants were cut out. The lateral branches of the left seedlings were not removed, so their crown began at a height of 50 cm from the ground. Productivity sharply increased to 40 c / ha.
Probably, many experienced gardeners who have been engaged in gardening for a long time know: if a branch going up is tilted to the ground with a rope or a brick is hung at its end, then the yield will increase sharply.
Varieties of hazelnuts for the Krasnodar Territory
It is known that it is the variety that determines the level of planting productivity, the quality of the products obtained. It should be well adapted to local soil and climatic conditions. The best varieties of hazelnuts in southern Russia are the following.
Variety Adygea-1
Fruits - average weight - 2.1 g, wide, round, collected in 3-4, less often in 5-8 pieces. It is recommended for cultivation on farmers, personal plots. The variety is winter-hardy, drought-resistant, productive. High hazelnut hazelnuts. Medium resistant to pests, not resistant to bacteriosis.On the Black Sea coast gives from 5 to 10 kg of nuts from one bush. Begins to bear fruit in the 6-7th year after planting. The fruits ripen in late August - early September.
Variety Ata Baba
The variety is medium resistant. Harvest gives annually. Fruits well. Nuts have an excellent presentation. Begins to bear fruit for 4 years. The average yield from 1 ha is 9.5 centners. Universal purpose. Vigorous hazelnut bush with a spherical, slightly flattened crown. Fruits weighing 2.5-3.0 g, rounded, slightly elongated. The shell is of medium thickness, light brown with dark stripes. The wrapper is much longer than a nut. Resistant to major pests, diseases (except bacteriosis). The bush is very tall, with a round, slightly spreading crown.
Hazelnut Caucasus, description of the variety
Variety of selection of the All-Russian Research Institute of Floriculture and Subtropical Crops. Fruits are large, weighing 2.5 g. Feature: good separability of the nut from the plus. It is a good pollinator. Deserves testing in all hazelnut cultivation areas. Shelf life of fruits under normal room conditions is up to two years.
Variety Kuban
The variety is winter-hardy, with high productivity. Fruits are rounded, slightly flattened, slightly ribbed. The shell is medium, dense, smooth, slightly tuberous, shiny, with a barely noticeable bloom. Hazelnut fruits are very large, average weight - 3.5 g. Promising for cultivation in the Krasnodar Territory. Productivity from a bush of 8-9 kg (Black Sea coast). Suitable for mechanized harvesting.
Grade Louise
Promising for growing in the Kuban. It is characterized by increased resistance to low temperatures, regularly, bears fruit well (7-10 kg from the bush). Gives nuts of high merchantability, taste.
Variety Panajesky
Medium ripening. Fruits are large or medium-sized (2.2 g), roundish-oblong. Wrap longer than walnut, whole, sometimes dissected on one side. Highly frost-resistant hazelnuts, relatively resistant to pests, diseases. The variety is recommended for cultivation in home gardens or farms.
Variety "President"
Distinctive features: large-fruited, simultaneous fruit ripening, plusa easily separated from the pericarp, which allows us to mechanize the process of collecting nuts. It grows best on the Black Sea coast.
Roman Hazelnut, variety description
Fruits are large, weighing 3.2-3.5 g, one-dimensional, flat-round, with a beautiful appearance. It has a high potential for annual, abundant fruiting, is slightly affected by powdery mildew, kidney mites, and is medium resistant to bacteriosis. The disadvantages of the variety include weak winter hardiness, low resistance to fruit rot. At international exhibitions he was twice awarded gold medals.
Filbert Cherkessky, description of the variety
It is characterized by relative resistance to pests, diseases. Relatively winter-hardy, drought tolerant. The fruits of hazelnuts weighing 1.6 g, broadly oval, slightly flattened, pointed. The shell is thin, brown, with slightly pronounced longitudinal stripes. The main industrial variety on the Black Sea coast. Well established among amateur gardeners.
Hazelnut processing
Nuts are harvested when they begin to crumble. Purify them from cocks, store in tight bags
Plyuska is also dried. You can make jam from green young bun, it is with a pleasant acidity, syrups that help in the treatment of scurvy, loosening of the gums, impaired blood circulation, and high blood pressure.
Hazelnuts are consumed raw, dried or toasted. Of them can be made nut milk. To do this, fresh kernels are cleaned, crushed, soaked overnight in water, and ground in a mortar. The resulting mass is diluted with nine times the amount of water, insist 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Then the liquid part is boiled, filtered or drained, adding salt and sugar to taste. Walnut milk, by the way, sour, gives a delicious yogurt.
To receive peanut butter hazelnut kernels are crushed, slightly diluted with water, heated. The heated mass is wrapped in a piece of clean cloth, placed under a screw press, under which a vessel for collecting oil is substituted. It is not inferior in quality to almond, it is used in perfumery, confectionery, in the manufacture of high-quality artistic paints. Walnut oil has a light yellow color, a pleasant smell, is well absorbed by the human body. The dough with the addition of peanut butter rises well, and the finished product does not stale for a long time.
Hazelnut kernels are often used to obtain vegetable cream, milk, and other products. To prepare nut cream, the kernels are peeled, peeled, crushed, triturated, gradually adding water in small portions. The pasty mass is diluted with warm water, whipped until a homogeneous mass is formed, reminiscent of the taste of cream. Store hazelnut cream in the refrigerator. Nut cream is used in its natural form, they make a delicious, nutritious cream for cakes, muffins, cakes.
Young hazelnut leaves are eaten for making cabbage rolls, soups and as a surrogate for tea.
The calorie content of a nut is much higher than that of beans, soy, raisins, figs, milk, and potatoes. Hazelnuts are widely used by the confectionery industry. From nut flour and kernels, fillings are prepared for sweets and other confectionery products. The cake remaining after separation of the oil is processed for halva, chocolate, waffles.
Recipes
And finally, some recipes.
Walnut Cake Cream
Beat eggs and sugar until thickened in a pan placed in a water bath, then cool, add pieces of butter, nut cream, grate thoroughly
Ingredients:
- eggs - 3 pcs.,
- butter - 150 g;
- sugar - 150 g;
- nut cream - 100 g.
Walnut drink
Soaked, chopped nuts pour water or milk for 4 hours, then strain. Bring the infusion to a boil, add salt and sugar to taste.
Ingredients:
- hazelnuts - 200 g;
- milk or water - 1 liter;
- sugar, salt - to taste.
Walnut coffee
Fry hazelnuts, grind with a coffee grinder or stupa, add ground black coffee. One teaspoon of the mixture brew 200 ml of boiling water, bring to a boil, let stand and brew. Add sugar to taste.
Walnut tea
One teaspoon of dried leaves of hazelnuts or hazel brew 200 ml of boiling water. Insist 15-20 minutes Sugar - to taste.