Nuts

NUTS, fruits of various plants, consisting of an edible and nutritious kernel covered on the outside by a dry, woody shell having no nutritional value. Nuts possess nutritional properties mainly due to their high content of nitrogenous substances and fats, with the kernels containing up to 17.5% complete proteins. Nuts are poor in carbohydrates, with the exception of chestnuts and water chestnuts. With proper grinding, their digestibility (according to Rubner) is "quite good"; Schall and Heisler give the following digestibility figures: proteins—70%; fat—90%; and carbohydrates—85%. The size and shape of nuts vary; some nuts contain poisonous alkaloids. Nuts, being surrounded by an inedible shell, yield a high percentage of waste; often the inedible part exceeds 50%. According to their chemical composition, nut kernels as a rule are distinguished by a high content of nitrogenous substances and fat and a small amount of water (see table). As for the mineral composition of nut kernels, in some types of nuts (beech nuts, acorns, chestnuts, and coconuts) the basic radical prevails, while in others (American nuts, walnuts, peanuts, hazelnuts, and almonds) the acidic radical prevails. A low vitamin content has been noted in hazelnuts, walnuts, coconuts, and American nuts with respect to vitamin A (Lavrov). Peanuts have been found deficient in vitamin A. Vitamin C is poorly expressed in the coconut (Lavrov). Vitamin B is moderately expressed in hazel, walnut, coconut, and American nuts (Lavrov) (see table on pp. 575–576). Due to the high content of nutrients—proteins and fat in some nuts and carbohydrates in others—nuts serve for the manufacture of a number of food products. Almond, cedar, coconut, and other milks are prepared from nuts (see Plant milk), as well as cedar, walnut, hazelnut, beech, coconut, and other oils, flour, coffee, and bread. According to Agnoletti, bread prepared from wheat flour with the addition of 6% chestnut flour bakes well, comes out with a nice crust, has a pleasant taste, and is well digested. In Transcaucasia, gozinakh is cooked and made from beech flour mixed with corn flour and honey. Peanut flour is used for bread baking and serves for the preparation of cupcakes and biscuits for diabetics. Coffee is also prepared from various nuts: from peanuts (the so-called "African coffee") and from acorns. From 100 parts of acorn coffee, 1.2% tannins, 2.7% mineral substances, 4.7% nitrogenous substances, 10.5% dextrin, and 2.5% inverted sugar pass into solution. In addition, nuts in one form or another are widely used in confectionery for the preparation of fillings, cookies, marzipan, chocolate, and the like, as well as for glazing; nuts go into compote, ice cream, etc.