Nuts & Berries

Question 1

Botanical definition of Nuts

Answer 1

• Indehiscent dry fruit
• Pericarp does not split at maturity
• 1-seeded w/ bony pericarp (exo, meso, endo)

Question 2

True nuts:

Answer 2

• Walnut, Chestnut, Hazelnut, Pecan

Question 3

Walnut

Answer 3

• Juglans spp., Juglandaceae, walnut family

- Trees allelopathic

Question 4

Allelopathy, example of plant that has this feature

Answer 4

• Produce chemicals that have biological influence on other plants
• Walnut trees inhibit growth of other plants w/ chemicals from leaves leaching into ground

Question 5

Why are walnuts good for health?

Answer 5

• According to the Doctrine of Signature (middle ages) relating plant shape to body parts
• Possibly lower cardiovascular diseases
• Antioxidant activity 2x more than other nuts
• High in a-linolenic acid, essential omega-3 fatty acid

Question 6

Antioxidant activity of walnuts

Answer 6

• 2x greater than other nuts in testing
• Oxidative reactions can cause cell damage
• Antioxidant effects are mostly measured in laboratory reactions

Question 7

What other foods have a-linolenic acid?

Answer 7

• soy, canola, chia seeds

Question 8

Other tree nuts that are not true nuts

Answer 8

Cashew, Almond, Pistachio

Question 9

What is the difference between tree nuts and true nuts?

Answer 9

• Only endocarp hardens in tree nuts

- True nuts have dry, hardened fruit in exo, meso, and endocarps

Question 10

Cashew

Answer 10

• Anacardium occidentali, Anacardiaceae, cashew family
• Nut is seed embryo inside hard seed coat
• Cashew apple is accessory fruit, not from ovary so not a true fruit

Question 11

Pistachio

Answer 11

• Pistachia vera, Anacardiaceae, cashew family

- Can grow in desert and saline soils

Question 12

Almond

Answer 12

• Prunus dulcis, Rosaceae, rose family
• Contain amygdalin, cyanogenic glycoside
• Requires lots of water to grow

Question 13

What nut causes concerns for water consumption? Explain.

Answer 13

• Almond
• California grows 82% of world almonds
• 1.1 gallon/single almond
• Problem for huge growth increase, 450,000 acres in 20 years

Question 14

California almond industry

Answer 14

• Consumes massive amounts of water
• 450,000 acre increase in 20 years
• 6.5 billion dollar industry
• Top export crop to India

Question 15

What fruit is, perhaps surprisingly, in the same family as cashew and pistachio?

Answer 15

• Mango

Question 16

Which country exports the second most almonds?

Answer 16

• China

Question 17

What are 2 essential fatty acids that the human body cannot make and must get from diet? Which is considered ‘better’?

Answer 17

• Omega-3 (best) and Omega-6

- Omega-3 found in walnuts

Question 18

Antioxidants

Answer 18

• Inhibits oxygenated effects that damage cells and DNA

- Oxygen is important for body but chemical effect of oxidation can have negative effects as well

Question 19

Fleshy fruit berries: Simple

Answer 19

• Blueberry, Huckleberry, Cranberry

- All Vaccinium spp. Ericaceae, heather family

Question 20

Fleshy fruit berries: Aggregate

Answer 20

• Strawberry, Raspberry, Blackberry
• All Rosaceae, rose family
• Each ‘bubble’ comes from one ovary
• Strawberries are ‘fused’

Question 21

What are the 2 types of fleshy fruit berries?

Answer 21

• Simple

- Aggregate

Question 22

Why are berries desirable?

Answer 22

• Sweet and pretty

Question 23

What is a feature many berries have and what does it do for the plant?

Answer 23

• Bright pigments, often phenolic compounds
• Anthocyanins, tannins which act as antioxidants
• Acts as attractant for consumption by animals to spread seeds?

Question 24

What are 2 successful berry crops in BC, recently?

Answer 24

• Blueberry and cranberry

Question 25

Cranberry

Answer 25

• Grown in bogs, harvested by flooding
• High in Vitamin C
• Harvested by native people in Fraser valley
• Juice treats bladder infections
• Highest antioxidant activity

Question 26

Why were cranberries so profitable during the gold rush?

Answer 26

• Shipped to San Francisco during gold rush because high Vitamin C content wards off scurvy

Question 27

Antioxidant effects of cranberry

Answer 27

• Highest of phenolic extracts from 20 fruits (second was red grape)
• Fruit extract antioxidant effect better than mixtures of vitamins or phenolic compounds

Question 28

Which berry is used to treat bladder infections, and how does this work?

Answer 28

• Cranberry, better than other fruit juices
• Reduces adhesion of bacteria to bladder surface because it does not increase acidity
• High in alpha type proanthocyanidin (PA, tannin)
• 20x more active than beta type PA from grape juice

Question 29

Blueberry

Answer 29

• High in antioxidant levels

- Popular health food b/c easier to package and market

Question 30

Salal

Answer 30

• Local ‘super’ berry, better than blueberry

- Gautheria shallow, Ericaceae, Heather family (simple berries)

Question 31

Which berry is more ‘super’, Blueberry or Salal?

Answer 31

• Salal
• Contains 1200mg tannin/100g fruit weight
• Substantially more than 250mg/100g fr. wt of blueberry