Pecans

A healthy and varied diet contains enough fruits and vegetables and is the basis for a strong immune system. But don’t forget that the pecan is also a good source of the minerals zinc and ijze, crucial for a good resistance. It is similar to the walnut, but slightly sweeter: the pecan! This tasty nut grows in America and they are therefore by far the largest and most important producer, but the pecan tree also grows in Israel, South Africa, Mexico and Australia. Like other nut trees, these trees have a harvest cycle of 2 years, once every two years there is a big harvest. Like the walnut, there is a green bark around the nut, this opens when the fruit is ripe, then the brown nut emerges.

Besides also being packed with good fats, the pecan excels in its high zinc and vitamin B1 content. One 25-gram handful of pecans contains a quarter of the daily recommended amount of zinc. Zinc is needed for tissue growth and development and proper immune system function. Vitamin B1 is essential for energy supply in the body. Vitamin B1 is very sensitive to sunlight and heating, so our advice: keep pecans dark and eat them raw!

Walnuts

Features

Most walnuts are found in America, France and China. But walnuts also grow in the Netherlands; many gardens have at least one walnut tree.

Another name for walnut is walnut and is one of the best known nuts. A walnut tree can grow 20 to 25 metres tall. Walnuts are dried when the green bark has burst open. The longer and better they are dried, the longer the nuts keep.

Walnuts are high in protein, calcium and potassium. In addition, they also fit into a cholesterol-lowering diet as they are high in unsaturated fats. They also contain a lot of antioxidants, which in turn are good for protecting the body against diseases. Antioxidants is a collective name for vitamins E and C, beta-carotene, the body’s own glutathione, the trace elements selenium and zinc, and bioactive substances such as flavonoids from fruit and vegetables.

 

The benefits at a glance

  1. High in protein, calcium and potassium
  2. High in antioxidants
  3. Pecans fit perfectly into a cholesterol-lowering diet

 

 

Application

Walnuts are widely eaten. They are popular in nut mixes, desserts and, for example, walnut pesto.

What can you use walnuts for:

Dates

Properties

The date is a fruit derived from the date palm. There are several varieties of dates, but one of the best known are the Medjoul date and the Deglet Nour date. Dates are drupes and contain a large hard seed that is not edible. They grow in clusters, like bananas and only grow on female trees. Dates have been around for centuries. They originate in the Middle East and are grown mainly in North Africa and Arab countries. But you can also find date trees in Israel, California and Australia. In particular, countries like Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Algeria export dates.

 

Application

You can eat the fruit fresh or dried, but the variety the kind we know here in the Netherlands is the dried (often sugared) variety. Dates combine well with nuts, cheese, cream cheese. Or process them in a tagine dish, for example. In Islam, the date is an important fruit and also has a special meaning. Eating dates regularly is said to repair and cleanse the liver. During Ramadan, dates also play an important role and are standard on the table. They are eaten at sunset at the iftar meal. The lore says that breaking the fast with a date makes the iftar 1,000 times more ‘sawab’ (reward for good deeds). (*source)

Dates are a good snack, as they are high in fibre they make you feel satiated and less hungry. Don’t eat too many of them as they also contain a lot of carbohydrates due to the naturally occurring sugars. Be careful when buying dates, as there are some that have been candied and thus have had an extra sugar bath before they hit the shops. This is done not only for the sweet taste, but also to extend the shelf life.

 

 

Did you know.

  • Dates contain more fibre per 100g than unpolished rice and wholemeal bread.
  • Dates are relatively low in calories and low in fat. A 6g date contains about 19 kcal (nutrition centre)
  • Dates are high in iron, copper and potassium
  • Dates are a source of vitamin C

Tasty recipes with dates?

Try this tagine, or make this delicious sticky toffee cake, finger-licking good!

 

Nuts healthy?

Of course, we knew all along that nuts are healthy 😉 but here is a recent article from The Telegraph, which also recommends a handful of nuts every day.
Looking for more information on different nuts and health benefits? Then take a look at:

Sultanas and currants

Sultanas

A sultana is a dried yellow grape. The vast majority of sultanas are made from the Sultana grape, a grape variety mainly native around the Mediterranean. It is an oval seedless grape variety. Worth noting: both yellow and blue sultanas are made from a yellow grape. The colour difference only occurs during the processing process.

Blue sultanas are made by picking the grapes and drying them. This shrinks the grape and gives it its dark colour. Yellow sultanas are soaked in ‘potash’, a mixture of salts, after picking. This helps the grape retain its light colour. After this, they are given a bath of sulphite and sulphur dioxide to preserve the sultana and prevent later browning.

The difference with currants?

Currants are made from a specific Greek grape, the Corinthian. Full of the: Vitis vinifera Korinthiaka. Although the grape is more like a berry. Dried currants are smaller, darker and more acidic than sultanas.

What does the nutrition centre say?

Sultanas and currants are dried fruit and that falls within the ‘Schijf van Vijf’. So you can give it to your child as a snack. Tip: Keep the portion small, as dried fruit contains quite a lot of sugar.

Vitamins and fibre

So although you can give a box or handful of sultanas as a snack, fresh fruit is still better. They contain more vitamin C, as vitamin C is lost when drying fruit. However, sultanas and other dried fruits still contain fibre. You can read what they contain on the label.

From what age can sultanas be given?

If your child eats breakfast, lunch and dinner around their first birthday, you can give an occasional snack like sultanas. Just make sure not to give too much. When his tummy is already filled with something else, your child will be less hungry at the next meal. A few sultanas are not harmful for a baby in the first snack stage, but it’s better to wait a while before giving them a snack.

Are unsulphured sultanas better than sulphurised ones?

No. Sulphurised sultanas are treated with a permitted preservative (sulphite). There is no reason not to use it. Even children can just eat sulphurised sultanas. There is 1 exception; some people can have hypersensitivity reactions to sulphite. This is most common among asthmatics. It is estimated that less than 4% of asthmatics are at risk of hypersensitivity reactions to sulphite.

 

Macadamia’s

 

Properties

Macadamias are green in colour when they hang from the tree. When ripe, they crack open and you see a round brown nut in shell. Macadamias have a smooth round shape. The flavour of the nut is determined by its fat content. The higher the fat percentage, the finer the flavour. The fat percentage is around 75%. Of which 4/5 are unsaturated fatty acids (the healthy fatty acids). These fats lower blood cholesterol levels and thus reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Origin

This delicious round nut was discovered by Dr John Macadam on the Australian coast and is named after him. Compared to other nuts, the macadamia is relatively young and not so long known in the Netherlands. They are also called ‘Queensland nuts’, named after Australia. Meanwhile, there are many more countries of origin besides Australia, such as Kenya, Malawi, South Africa and America.

Application

Creamy, full-bodied, buttery and sweet notes. Macadamia nuts are delicious in combination with chocolate. The macadamia nut is also made into vegan cheese nowadays, which is because the raw nut has a cheese-like flavour. When combined with oat milk, lemon and salt, you get an almost indistinguishable from real cheese.

Kraken van Macadamia’s
De Macadamianoot is het moeilijkste te kraken van alle noten ter wereld. Er is een druk voor nodig van meer dan 20 kg per vierkante centimeter. Onder andere hierdoor ligt de prijs hoger dan de prijs van andere noten. Een andere reden van de hoge prijs is dat de macadamiaboom pas na 7 tot 10 jaar oogst geeft. De bomen hebben veel regen, een warm klimaat en een rijke voedingsbodem nodig.

 

A handful of macadamias contains:

⁃ 1/3rd of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin B1

⁃ 12% of the recommended daily allowance of Magnesium

⁃ 1/4th of the recommended daily allowance Manganese

⁃ 9% iron

⁃ 8% copper

 

Recycled nut shells usable as versatile waste product

Did you know?

Recycled nut shells are used as a versatile waste product!

In 2018, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recorded nut production of more than 15 million tonnes worldwide. The FAO uses an average waste rate of 40 per cent for all nuts. Fifteen million tonnes of harvest then yields six million tonnes of nut shells. There are also husks as a waste product.

Recycling into animal feed, mulch or fertiliser

In the middle of the last century, scientists were already looking for possible applications to recycle nut shells and husks. Back then, there was an annual waste mountain of ‘only’ 907,200 tonnes of nut shells. Finely ground, the shells and husks served as animal feed as well as mulch and fertiliser. In addition, farmers used the shells as bulk ingredients in insecticides and pesticides. This way, the substances were less atomised and there was less loss.

Nut shells are versatile waste product

A classic outlet for nut shells is to use them as bedding in animal husbandry. But the outlet has become diverse in recent years. The material encourages numerous experiments. You find shells in charcoal, chipboard, biodegradable plastic, cardboard, fuel, soil improver, paint and varnish, scrubs, but equally as brake fluid in your car or as sandblasting material. And nut shells, as biochar, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Walnut shells filter water and air

If you burn nut shells in a low-oxygen environment, you get charcoal or pure carbon. This can purify water and air in carbon filters. In the medical field, burnt nut shells can prevent poisoning as activated carbon. All types of nuts are eligible for that process.

Nut shells form valuable biomass

When you burn organic matter such as nut shells at high temperatures, you get different

source: https://eostrace.be/traces/trace-van-noten

Featured Pumpkin Seeds

Properties

Pumpkin is by far the largest fruit in the plant kingdom. This fruit grows best on clean soil in warm climates such as Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Pumpkin seeds are often used in mixes, especially roasted. In proportion to the fruit, they are only small seeds, but in terms of nutritional composition, they are very similar to nuts and peanuts. Lots of good fats, proteins, minerals and vitamins!

The following nutritional values ​​can be found on the nutrition center’s website:

1 tablespoon (15 grams) of pumpkin seeds contains:

  • 86 kcal energy
  • 7.1 grams of fat
  • 1.7 grams of saturated fat
  • 0.4 grams of carbohydrates
  • 0.2 grams of sugars
  • 1.3 grams of fiber
  • 4.5 grams of protein
  • 0 grams of salt

You also regularly see the term pepita, this is the Mexican term for the pumpkin seed. Pumpkin seeds are very good for your health, like many nuts, kernels and seeds. It is said that they can be good for your sleep because they contain a lot of tryptophan. This is an amino acid that can promote sleep and a building material for serotonin and melatonin.

But to get 1 gram of tryptophan, you need to eat about 200 grams of pumpkin seeds. That’s quite a few tablespoons 😉

 

Application

Pumpkin seeds are versatile and especially tasty when roasted. You can use them in salads, bread or with your muesli. At the Notenbeurs, pumpkin seeds are available separately, but also in a seed and kernel mix. This combines wonderfully with a salad.

 

What can you use pumpkin seeds for:

  • During your breakfast in your yogurt or oatmeal
  • Use it in a dish, for example this Quiche