What is Hazelnut?
Hazelnut is a round fruit that is 1.5 to 2.5 cm and has a green coating that is separated after drying. It is a rough spherical fruit with a diameter of 10 to 15 mm and has a fibrous outer shell that surrounds the soft shell; the outer shell of the fruit falls off when it`s ripe, the kernel is edible in form of raw or roasted. It is consumed or ground to make dough.
History of hazelnuts
The hazelnut tree is distributed in many parts of the world and is found in large areas of Europe, Asia Minor and the Caucasus. The first remnants of a hazelnut tree were found at an altitude of 1,500 to 1,600 meters in an area of former Macedonia in the form of fossils and date back to the last ice age.
Hazelnut seeds are consumed by small mammals (squirrels and mice) and birds. One of the factors in the spread of this tree is consumption of seeds by these little animals. Hazelnut is a typical shrub native to Asia and Europe, this plant is an important part of hedges that were traditionally considered as the border of farms in the lowlands of England.
Hazelnut is one of the most widely consumed and long-standing nuts, and botanists believe it originated in Asia. The manuscripts found in China date back to five thousand years ago indicate that the ancient Chinese considered hazelnuts to be a sacred food.
Hazelnuts are commercially produced in southern Europe and the states of Oregon and Washington, USA. With more than 500,000 tons of hazelnuts per year, Turkey is the largest producer of hazelnut in the world, Italy with 129,000 tons, the United States with 25 thousand tons, Spain with 22 thousand tons, Azerbaijan with 20 thousand tons, China with 19 thousand tons, Iran with 13 thousand tons, France with a production of with 5,600 tons, Georgia with 4,000 tons and Russia with 5,300 tons are in the next place.
Today the hazelnut tree is a symbol and sign of life and Corylaceae is an ancient Greek word meaning immortality; in ancient times and in the Roman era was a symbol of peace and friendship. In England it is believed that hanging hazelnut branches brings good luck and success.
Uses of hazelnuts
Today in the food industry, hazelnuts are used raw, roasted, mixed, sliced and powdered in the preparation of various chocolates, biscuits, sweets and a variety of salads and ice creams. There are many ways to use hazelnuts daily, you can eat hazelnuts raw or roasted, you can add these nutritious nuts to salads, soups, cereal, and dairy products such as yogurt and cheese.
Hazelnut kernel contains about 60% oil, which is light yellow and has a mild taste and pleasant smell; this oil is edible and also used in perfumery and painting. Hazelnuts are used in the confectionery and chocolate industries. In the United States, hazelnuts, like peanuts and butter, have been extracted commercially as hazelnut butter for breakfast. In Austria, traditional and very popular hazelnut sweets are prepared and offered.
In Germany, desserts are prepared and consumed from a mixture of flour and hazelnut. Extracted hazelnut oil is used in cosmetics. Hazelnut oil, which is obtained by squeezing its kernel, is very tasty and is used as oil in cooking. In confectionery, a large amount of hazelnut is used to prepare sweets and it is mixed chocolate for preparation of truffles (bean-shaped chocolate).
Ecological needs
Hazelnut trees need relatively cold winters and cool summers. For the growth and development of this fruit cool summer is more appropriate than hot summer. Hazelnut trees need to be exposed to moderate cold for a relatively long time to meet the need for cold. In humid areas, trees are susceptible to pathogens. Hazelnut trees are resistant to cold. Rods and flowers of hazelnuts are more resistant to cold than bloom flowers. If the female flowers bloom, the 5.9 ° C temperature may harm them. There is a direct relation between minimum and maximum air temperature with flowering dates of male and female inflorescences. Increase of total effective temperatures delays the emergence of stigmas in early cultivars. Resistance of tissues is determined according to cold condition, including the central cylinder, wood vessels, cambium, and skin. In mid-winter, vegetative buds are more resistant to cold than female flowers. Also the resistance of most female flowers in the winter is more than male flowers. Hazelnuts should not be planted in low-lying areas where cold weather remains. There should be no dry winds. Areas with moderate rainfall intensity and distribution are appropriate for successful planting hazelnuts pH. They are very suitable for planting hazelnuts.
Soil preparation
The type of suitable soil for planting hazelnuts varies in different regions, but in general the soil should be deep, fertile and well drained. Deep soils store large amounts of water and nutrients that are used during dry season. The roots of hazelnut tree grow rapidly to a depth of 2.5 to 4 meters. Adverse factors such as the presence of an impermeable layer, high level of groundwater, the presence of rocks, sand and the lack of ventilation in the soil all limit the growth of roots. The soil should have ventilation up to a depth of 4 meters. However, hazelnut trees are more tolerant of compacted soils than walnut trees.
Hazelnut multiplication
It has two ways, propagation by seed and vegetative propagation. In the first one by planting hazelnuts immediately after harvesting with pericarp, germination is greatly reduced. Removing the seed coat is like removing the pericarp in which germination increases by 81%. Seed dormancy resolves with a stratification period of 6 months. If the hazelnut is harvested late (end of September) fruits pericarp hardens. In this case, first a period of warm stratification at 20 degrees Celsius is necessary, and consequently hazelnut seeds should be exposed to cold (4° C). In fruits that are harvested early (late August) endosperm and embryo often do not grow enough and seeds germinate does not work well. To deprive the hazelnut seeds of sleep, if they are exposed to 5 degrees Celsius for 6 weeks and then transferred to 20° C, gibberellic acid accumulates in the seed and causes germination. There are different methods in vegetative propagation, which are:
Cuttings
Layering
Grafting
Planting dates and intervals
Sloping lands should be leveled before planting so that hazelnut trees can be planted at appropriate intervals. This will facilitate chemical fertilizers, livestock as well as irrigation. When planting, care must be taken so that the inside of the holes should be free of stones because presence of stones limits the roots. Hazelnuts are planted in late winter or spring. When planting after digging the pits at the bottom of each pit some soil is poured in a pile and the roots of the seedlings are put on it, then the rest of the pit is filled and harden. The area around the seedlings is covered with sawdust or loose soil and irrigated. In order to decrease the number of foot pimples and for easier removal we need to remove the seedlings from a height of 50 to 75 cm and the trunks of the seedlings are stained with a white substance and then covered with white paper in order to prevent sunburn.
Planting
If hazelnuts are not grown as bushy shrubs or hedges, the planting distance is 6 meters. Hazelnut yield in tree mode is more than a bush. In the case of boots, the central part remains weak or disappears due to the shadow of the outer parts.
Planting distance varies depending on whether something else is planted among the hazelnut trees.
Harvesting
Pruning: In fruiting trees, the lateral branches that are on the main branches are pruned every year and weak branches are removed. If root pruning is done during planting, the need for pruning will be less in later stages, but when the hazelnuts trees are 12 to 15 years old, it is better to prune a lot of lateral branches to stimulate the growth of strong branches. In this condition 8 to 10 branches per tree are kept to have a better fruit and increase yield. It is recommended to add 30 tons manure in autumn with 600 kg per hectare of superphosphate and in spring 400 to 500 kg of ammonium sulfate or 300 to 400 Kg of calcium cyanide or 150 to 300 kg of ammonium nitrate.
Pest control: Pests of hazelnuts are ticks, ryegrass nutmeg, wood-eating beetle, hazelnut-producing mite, hazelnut oyster, bacterial wilt, hazelnut wilt, brown rot or anthracnose and mosaic virus disease.
Irrigation: If hazelnuts are planted in fertile soils that have a lot of water capacity they will need a little irrigation.
Removal of debris: Removal of debris around the trunk of hazelnut is essential. In order to effectively remove the cuttings, it is necessary to remove 3 to 4 times a year and for several years after planting. New cuttings should be done as close as possible to where they grow.
Flowering: Hazelnut flowering occurs 3 to 4 years after planting, but usually fertilization starts from the 5th or 6th year. The fruiting period is 10 to 20 years. Branches that are 16 to 25 cm long are single-stemmed, produce unisexual flowers, and have the highest fruiting capacity. Pollination of all species is done by the wind. The flowering period of hazelnuts in natural condition lasts about 3 months, which begins with the pollination of early cultivars and ends with the peak flowering stage in late cultivars. Hazelnut is incompatible, so for an ideal pollination, different cultivars should be planted together.
Harvest
Hazelnuts fall on the ground when they are ripe. Fruits that fall on the ground, are discolored due to soil moisture, therefore, the skin of the fruit should be removed as soon as possible. Fruits should be collected 2 to 3 times during the season. Yield of hazelnut trees depending on the age of the tree, planting distance, soil preparation operations and other factors is different. If one hectare of garden produces 2200 kg of crop, it will have a good crop. The yield of fruit trees will fluctuate every year.
ramin –
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