LItaly has long been the world's leading producer of chestnuts and the first exporting country in the world, but starting from the fifties of the twentieth century the progressive abandonment of the mountain areas led to a sharp decrease in the past chestnut production from 556.970 tons in 1928 to 40.000 today. And in fact, Italian production, which is of excellent quality, is unable to cover both internal and external demand. The paradox is that our country exports high quality chestnuts and marrons, also DOP and IGP, for fresh consumption for a total of 13. tons, e imports chestnuts of inferior qualityand intended largely for processing (flours, fifth range, snacks, etc.) but also for fresh consumption in large-scale distribution for 23.000 tons. Not secondary detail the the price of the chestnuts we import exceeds that of exported chestnuts. Data that make it clear that it is necessary to increase the production of national chestnuts.
The meeting of “I Mercoledì dell'Archiginnasio. L'Odyssey of food from field to table” organized in Bologna on the planet Castagna with the participation of Renzo Panzacchi, President of the Consorzio Castanicoltori Appennino Bolognese, Prof. Marco Malaguti, Associate of Biochemistry at the University of Bologna, Guido Mascioli, the Bologna AIC Delegation and di. Ercole Borasio, Full Academic ANA
“To fully understand its value, we must not forget that the chestnut has been a constant presence in the diet of the human species, from the Stone Age and from cavemen to the present day. Phoenicians and Jews traded chestnuts throughout the Mediterranean basin, Greeks and Romans have always made use of them, and in this regard we can recall the historian and physician Xenophon who in the XNUMXth century BC defined the chestnut as "the bread tree". The wide diffusion of the chestnut tree - says Renzo Panzacchi - in ancient Rome and in certain areas of the empire is testified by numerous Roman authors, including Cato, Virgil, Tito Livio, Ovidio, Plinio, Columella. We must then wait for Charlemagne first and Matilde di Canossa immediately after, to assist in Italy in the cultivation valorisation of the chestnut tree. A push that will only run out in the middle of the last century, immediately after the end of the Second World War, when the great exodus from the mountain began towards the cities. For the chestnut it was a real disasterfe with a huge reduction in cultivated areas and production, in a very short time span. Then, starting from the end of the last century, a timid trend reversal began, which gradually continues to gain strength and which allows us to look to the future with motivated optimism".
“Today we can say – underlined prof. Malaguti of the Department of Sciences for the Quality of Life of the University of Bologna – that the nutritional importance of the chestnut is essentially of a historical nature and linked to the maintenance of the gastronomic tradition. From a strictly nutritional point of view, chestnuts do not present any aspects that can make them classified as foods of the highest value. However, they have some interesting aspects to highlight.
Chestnuts provide energy mainly through their carbohydrate content, mainly of the complex type, starch. This starch is in turn composed of 2/3 of amylopectin, more branched and digestible, and 1/3 of amylose, linear and less digestible. The digestibility of the starch is strongly influenced by the cooking technique used, roasted chestnuts have a higher proportion of resistant starch with prebiotic properties than the same chestnuts prepared in different ways. The lipid content is less than 2g/100g fresh weight, which makes chestnuts a decidedly lean food. As regards the lipid composition, it is mainly represented by polyunsaturated fatty acids and also contains an interesting amount of phytosterols. The protein component is modest (about 3g/100g fresh weight), proteins have a complete amino acid profile, which determines a chemical index higher than that of many other vegetable foods. The composition of the edible part of the chestnut also includes a very significant quantity of insoluble fiber. As far as the micronutrient content is concerned, the potassium and phosphorus content stand out, while the food is characterized by a decidedly very modest sodium content.
Currently we can say that the true richness of the chestnut (better to say of the chestnut) resides in processing waste products: leaves, bark, spiny domes, shells and internal integument are a real concentrate of bioactive compounds. What was once a waste material today therefore presents itself as the true wealth of this plant. Phenolic acids, catechins and tannins are highly concentrated and can find applications as antioxidants, antimicrobials and prebiotics both in the pharmaceutical and food fields.
The most recent studies in which our laboratory has been involved have had le nutraceutical characteristics of extracts of bark, leaves and thorn domesand which have been shown to possess strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in cellular models of cardiac muscle cells and microglia".
The rediscovery of chestnut cultivation - as has been said - even if timid is having positive effects both for the environmental protection of numerous territorial realities, such as for example the Experimental Educational Chestnut Grove of Granaglione on the Bolognese Apennines at the center of numerous activities organized by the Carisbo Foundation and National Academy of Agriculture, which in the kitchen where chestnut flour is increasingly appreciated. Today Italy exports chestnuts and chestnuts, also PDO and PGI of great quality, but the low national production (40.000 tons per year) limits exports and does not satisfy domestic demand forcing the import of lower quality products from abroad at a higher price. The definitive relaunch of national chestnut cultivation would favor the ecological transition of numerous mountain realities, at the same time creating a new economic resource for the country.
If globally the leader is the China with its production of almost 2 million tons per year, 4 times compared to what it produced in 2000, this is due to a precise development project which has created 1,9 million hectares of new fruit chestnut groves in twenty years. Following are Turkey which produces 63.500 tonnes per year and then South Korea with 53.000 tonnes (FAO 2019 data). Compared to the recent past, European producers have suffered heavy reductions in production, except for Portugal which has instead been able to intercept the needs of other countries having launched, since 2010, a plan to create 10.0 hectares of new chestnut groves. The European markets ask in particular high quality "premium" products, such as the Italian ones.
An example of what can be done in Italy comes from ChestnutExperimental Didactic neto of Granaglione born in 2003 on the initiative of the Carisbo Foundation, which owns it, as part of the "Apennine Project" which provides for the recovery and enhancement of local chestnut cultivation. The surface is 10 hectares and inside there are a traditional dryer for the production of chestnut flour, a classroom and a chestnut mill. “Since 2018 – he says. Ercole Borasio – the technical-scientific management of the chestnut grove has been entrusted to the National Academy of Agriculture and many projects have been launched to enhance the park, from fruit chestnut production to wood production, up to the innovative project "Talking Chestnuts" which studies , by placing sophisticated sensors on 48 trees, the sequestration of carbon by the chestnut trees in the park. Today the chestnut grove is included in the "Crown of Matilde", in the Alto Reno Terme area, the first Rural Landscape of Historical Interest in the Bolognese Apennines recognized by MIPAAF, and we are now aiming for ministerial recognition of its qualification as "National Center for study and conservation of forest biodiversity”.
