ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on the uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of American or Sweet Chestnut. Chestnuts are starchy nuts, containing approximately 40 to 45% carbohydrates and less than 1% oil, as compared with pecans with 70% oil and other tree nuts with approximately 60% oil. 'Clapper' is a hybrid from a cross of Chinese-American hybrid backcrossed to the American chestnut, and is a rapid-growing timber-type. Trees were nearly completely destroyed by the Chestnut Blight, a fungus bark disease. Under proper conditions, chestnuts can be stored from time of harvest to late April with minimal spoilage; nuts come out of storage in the same condition as they went in, and they have been found to germinate promptly. Chestnuts for eating may be stored in deep freezers, but they must be cooked promptly after being removed.
