Castanea crenata

Castanea crenata

The Korean chestnut or Korean castanea or Japanese chestnut (Castanea crenata Siebold & Zucc., 1846) is an arboreal species belonging to the Fagaceae family.

Systematics –
From a systematic point of view it belongs to:
Domain Eukaryota,
Kingdom Plantae,
Division Magnoliophyta,
Class Magnoliopsida,
Order Fagales,
Family Fagaceae,
Genus Castanea,
Species C. crenata.
The terms are synonymous:
– Castanea castanea pubinervis Sarg .;
– Castanea chinensis Hassk .;
– Castanea japonica Blume;
– Castanea japonica crenata (Siebold & Zucc.) Blume;
– Castanea kusakuri (Blume) Koidz .;
– Castanea pubinervis CKSchneid .;
– Castanea sativa japonica (Blume) Seemen;
– Castanea sativa pubinervis (CKSchneid.) Makino;
– Castanea stricta Siebold & Zucc .;
– Castanea vulgaris elongata A.DC .;
– Castanea vulgaris japonica (Blume) A.DC .;
– Castanea vulgaris kusakuri (Blume) A.DC .;
– Castanea vulgaris subdentata A.DC .;

Etymology –
The word Castanea comes from the Latin name of the chestnut, probably derived from Kastanáia, a village in Thessaly famous for its plants.
The specific crenata epithet comes from créna indentation: which has indentations.

Geographic Distribution and Habitat –
Japanese chestnut is a plant widespread in its natural state in East Asia, Japan and South Korea: the plant was introduced in Europe in 1876.
Its habitat is that of the piedmont areas close to mountain ranges and hilly areas.

Description –
The Japanese chestnut Japanese chestnut is a medium-sized tree, 10 to 15 meters high, with sympodial branching.
The leaves are simple, narrow, with a crenate-tight margin (hence the epithet of the species), tomentose at first, deciduous, provided with stipules at the base; they are 8–19 cm long and are 3–5 cm wide. The petioles are very short. The leaf scar is semicircular.
It is a monoecious species, with the flowers carried in erect catkins, which can group only male or mixed flowers. The male flowers are distributed in glomeruli of 3-7 flowers all over the ament. The female flowers are found at the base of the mixed catkins in groups of 1-3 and are enclosed in a subspherical casing called a dome, equipped with thorns.
The fruit is a rounded nut, larger in size than that of the European chestnut. In each dome there are 3-7 fruits.

Cultivation –
Castanea crenata is a very cold-resistant tree, which tolerates temperatures down to about -30 ° C during the dormancy period.
It grows best in areas with warm summers, although it grows well in more maritime areas with cooler summers.
The plant prefers a well-drained slightly acidic substrate and also succeeds in dry soils, so that once established it is very resistant to drought.
From a pedological point of view, it is a plant that tolerates sandy, highly acidic and sterile soils but badly tolerates calcareous soils.
The plant is grown in particular for its edible seed in Japan where there are many varieties.
It is also often cultivated for its seed in America because it is quite resistant to chestnut blight.
Trees begin to bear fruit when they reach a height of 3 to 3.5 meters.
This species is occasionally planted as a wood tree in southern Europe.
The plants are fairly self-sterile and freely hybridize with other members of this genus.
Propagation can take place by seed, to be sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold greenhouse or in an outdoor seedbed.
The seed must be protected from mice and squirrels and has a short viability and should not be allowed to dry out. It can be stored in a cool place, such as the salad compartment of a refrigerator, for a few months if kept moist, but you should check regularly for signs of germination. The seed should germinate in late winter or early spring.
If sowing in an outdoor seedbed, the plants can be left in situ for 1 – 2 years before transplanting them to their permanent locations. If grown in pots, the plants can be placed in their permanent locations in the summer or fall, making sure to give them some protection from the cold in their first winter.

Customs and Traditions –
Castanea crenata is a very cultivated plant in Japan, China, and Taiwan for food purposes. It is quite resistant to ink failure and enters precociously in production, features missing from the European chestnut and the American chestnut; for this reason hybrids have been created between these two species. These hybrids are also much easier to reproduce for talea.
The plant is also grown in the USA as a fruit tree.
It is also planted for erosion control in Japan and experimental cultivation in Italy.
Nuts are eaten cooked or roasted in China and Japan and exported as food to the United States and France (the tamba varieties have particularly large nuts). Dried fruit is mainly used in pastry. The leaves are used, in Japan, for feeding silkworms.
From the bark and leaves a black paint is obtained, used in silk, leather and porcelain painting.
The seed is edible both cooked and raw and is used as a good potato substitute as it is a good source of starch.
The seeds of this species contain more tannins than any other member of the genus and therefore taste more bitter, leaner, coarser and of little value. Furthermore, there is a lot of variability in terms of size and quality; Astringency can be removed by boiling the seed in salted water.
In the medical field, the leaves are traditionally used in herbal medicine, especially in the treatment of whooping cough and poisoning by lacquers. All parts of the plant contain tannins.
In trials, extracts from the inner skins (films) of fruits showed strong antioxidant activities and have long been used in East Asia, especially Korea, as an ingredient in cosmetics. They contain a large amount of polyphenols, in particular condensed and hydrolysable tannins, an agallotannin has been isolated from the bark.
Bark extracts contain high concentrations of ellagic and gallic acid.
From an ecological point of view, Castanea crenata is an excellent undergrowth plant that enriches the soil to be cultivated in open pine forests.
As mentioned, this species is known to have resistance to chestnut blight which is the disease that almost wiped out the native North American chestnuts (Castanea dentata and Castanea ozarkensis). It is used in breeding programs to instill resistance in North American species.
Wood is light, hard, strong, very durable. It is used to make furniture, construction, fence posts, etc.
Wood is a good fuel, it burns well and gives off a lot of heat.

Preparation Mode –
Japanese chestnut is a plant grown in many countries for food purposes and both cooked and raw seeds are used for this species.
Their consumption is also done to supplement and / or replace potatoes due to the good starch content. From an organoleptic point of view, however, they are poorer than Castanea sativa.
In the traditional medicine of East Asia, the leaves are used especially in the treatment of whooping cough and poisoning by lacquers.

Guido Bissanti

Sources
– Acta Plantarum – Flora of the Italian Regions.
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– Useful Tropical Plants Database.
– Conti F., Abbate G., Alessandrini A., Blasi C. (ed.), 2005. An annotated checklist of the Italian vascular flora, Palombi Editore.
– Pignatti S., 1982. Flora d’Italia, Edagricole, Bologna.
– Treben M., 2000. La Salute from Farmacia del Lord, Advice and experiences with medicinal herbs, Ennsthaler Editore.

Warning: Pharmaceutical applications and alimurgical uses are indicated for informational purposes only, they do not represent in any way a medical prescription; therefore no responsibility is taken for their use for curative, aesthetic or food purposes.