The benefits of walnuts for the body of green and ripe - composition, nutritional value

Walnut is a tree that gives us beauty, abundance, health, wealth. These are high-calorie food, medicine, as well as furniture products, building materials, paints, dyes, skin care products, and others. The benefits of walnuts for the body is beyond doubt. Mature fruit is an excellent nutritional product containing up to 40-80% fat, 18-20% protein, carbohydrates, vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, C, E, P, PP, K, minerals( potassium, iron,iodine).Walnut green, milky ripeness is distinguished by a rich set of amino acids, among them are irreplaceable, which are not synthesized in the body, but come only from food proteins.

The fat of the walnut kernel is represented by low molecular weight and high molecular weight acids. According to their nutritional value, they exceed wheat bread - 3 times, potatoes - 7 times, cow's milk - 10 times, apples - 15 times( 100 g of walnut kernels contain 612-850 calories, which is equal to the calorie content of butter).

The nutritional value of fruits, their use is mainly determined by the stage of their maturity.

So, during the milky-wax stage, they are rich in ascorbic acid, alkaloids, iodine, amino acids, and mature ones - in fats. It is not a secret for anyone that the amount of ascorbic acid that the fruits of walnut of milky ripeness contain reaches 3000-5000 mg, which is 75-100 times more than lemons and oranges contain. Moreover, the amount of ascorbic acid depends on the zone of growth. This benefit is hard not to appreciate.

What exactly is the benefit, what is rich in walnuts growing in the Kuban?

Scientists have studied the biochemical indicators of the quality of five varieties of walnut green( stage of milky-wax ripeness) and sixteen varieties - mature.

In the milky-waxy stage of maturity, fruits contain total dry matter of about 10.6–13.4%, among them soluble are 6.5–7.0%.Most of the dry matter is accounted for sugars - 3.6%.Acids represented by citric and malic, are at the level of 1.17-1.43%.

The content of pectic substances reaches 1.0-1.2%.The mineral composition is represented by the salts( in mg%): calcium - 180-220, magnesium - 60-100, iron - 1.60-3.30, iodine -), 20 -), 25, phosphorus 15-20.Of particular interest is the evaluation of the fruits of green walnut growing in Kuban, according to the content of vitamins C and P.

According to some authors, a walnut growing in the Kuban contains ascorbic acid significantly less than the fruits of walnut trees growing to the north. Thus, the maximum amount of vitamin C in Kuban nuts reaches 1496 mg% - in the variety Dessert, 1337 mg% - in the variety Izatelny, which is significantly lower than that of walnuts of the same stage of maturity growing in Transcarpathia( 3000-5000 mg%).So, if you buy a useful delicacy on the market, ask where it came from, from which region it was brought. If there is a choice - choose Transcarpathian.

The accumulation of vitamin C in fruits, pericarp and walnut leaves gradually increases and reaches its maximum depending on weather conditions by the end of May and the beginning of June. During this period, the leaves contain 400 mg%, ascorbic acid, the immature fetus - 1380 mg%, mature pericarp - 985 mg%.

The content of vitamin P varies from 181 mg% to 250 mg%, with the highest accumulation characteristic of the varieties Yield, Dessert, and Graceful. The smallest amount of P-active substances is noted in the varieties of the nut Pancake Day, Five-Year Plan( 181.0-185.0 mg%).

As they mature, the content of vitamins C and R decreases. Mature walnut fruits differ in a minimum amount of vitamin C - 4.2–6.9 mg% of P-active substances - 32.7-60.8 mg%.However, in this stage of maturity, the fat content reaches 67.1-72.6%.The greatest accumulation of fat varieties are selected breeder( 72.6%), Krasnodar( 71.4%), Pervomaysky( 70.9%). Fattyles are lower in Baikonur, Yield. Fats are represented by unsaturated fatty acids - palmitic, stearic, oleic, linolenic, linoleic, which are important in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, atherosclerosis, diabetes, etc.

Given this variety of chemical composition of walnut fruit, determined by the stage of maturity, it is difficult to even determinewhen they are richer in beneficial biologically active substances, they have the greatest nutritional value when their benefits are greatest.

The Institute of Nutrition has set the consumption rate for walnut per person - 3.6 kg per year, that is, 1-2 items per day.

How to determine ripened, ripened walnut or not? How to determine its ripeness? The ripeness of a walnut is not determined when it is purchased in a store or on the market. It is determined at harvest. Ripe walnuts do not tear from the tree, but wait for them to fall to the ground. The initial period of ripening is determined by the state of the outer green shell. When the nut starts to ripen, the green shell bursts. For a while he still hangs on the tree. Then the shell darkens and finally the nut falls to the ground. Falling already ripe, completely free from the outer shell. This happens depending on the variety, the place of growth of walnuts in late summer-early autumn. In the Krasnodar Territory, the ripening period usually falls on the September-October month. If, when harvesting, you see nuts on the ground in a dark brown shell, you should not even pick them up. These are unripe nuts, empty or damaged by any pests.

It is very useful to eat the walnut of the milky-wax stage of maturity. Raw they do not eat. But the benefits of jam from green nuts is enormous.

Employees of the laboratory for storing and processing fruits of the North Caucasian Zonal Research Institute for Horticulture and Viticulture( GNU SKZNIISiV) have developed a cooking technology for jam, which allows them to preserve their nutritional and therapeutic advantages.

They must be collected during the greatest accumulation of vitamin C, then from them you will get more benefits. Determine this moment is easy. The kernel of the nut has not yet hardened, is in a gelatinous state, and the shell is not yet formed. The shell is soft, juicy, easily punctured. Such fruits are natural vitamin concentrate, so it is advisable during this period to use them for processing. In the Kuban, this is approximately the end of May and the beginning of June.

The green fruits of the walnut dairy stage of maturity are washed, sorted by quality, size, peeled from the skin, manually prick, poured with hot sugar syrup, cooked in water or partially in apple juice. They are kept for 2 hours, boiled for 15-20 minutes with double cooling for 4-6 hours. After completion of the third cycle, add citric acid, honey according to the prescription composition.

Green walnut jam has an attractive appearance - light brown in color, with well-preserved fruits, soaked in syrup with a pleasant sweet-sour taste, delicate honey aroma. It is rich in biologically active substances.

According to physico-chemical parameters, jam has 70% of dry substances, 0.5% of acids, with moderate preservation of vitamin C( 90-120 mg%) and vitamin P( 20-30 mg%).