Yongjia Jingzhou Chestnuts

Yongjia Jingzhou Chestnuts

　　　　Product Name: Yongjia Jingzhou Chestnuts

　　Place of Origin: Wenzhou

　　Product Features: Highly nutritious, unique flavor

　　Product Introduction: Chestnuts have high economic value, which is inseparable from their considerable nutritional content. The fruit contains 70.1% sugar and starch, 10.7% protein, 2.74% fat, as well as multiple vitamins such as carotene, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and ascorbic acid. Fresh chestnuts are deliciously sweet and can be eaten raw, while they can also be stewed or boiled to make various dishes. When roasted in black sand with maltose, shelled chestnuts become the popular candied chestnuts, known for their crispy texture and enticing aroma. Farmers in the mountainous regions of Yongjia have a tradition of “chestnut-braised chicken,” which is both nutritious and uniquely flavorful, often served as a top-tier dish for guests. According to preliminary research, Yongjia chestnuts were likely introduced from Fujian during the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong era. Currently, they are distributed across all townships in the county, mostly planted sporadically, although in areas such as Bilian, Daruoyan, Zhangxi, Qukou, and Yantou, they are cultivated in continuous patches or strips intercropped with crops. The county currently has approximately 1,600 acres of chestnut plantations, yielding around 2,000 to 2,500 dan (a traditional unit, roughly 50 kg per dan) of chestnuts annually, ranking first in production across Wenzhou. The main cultivated local varieties include Zaodao Chestnut, Youguang Chestnut, and Mao Chestnut.

　　Product History: Tao Hongjing, a renowned physician of the Liang Dynasty during the Southern Dynasties period, said, “Chestnuts benefit qi, strengthen the stomach and intestines, nourish kidney qi, and increase resistance to hunger”—a claim that holds entirely true. Su Shi of the Song Dynasty even more highly praised, “Among fruits, the chestnut is the most beneficial.” Commonly known as chestnuts, also called big chestnuts or chestnut trees, they are plants of the Castanea genus in the Fagaceae family, deciduous trees that can grow up to 20 meters tall with a trunk diameter of 1 meter and a crown spread of 8–10 meters. They can live for several hundred years. Chestnuts originated west of Liaoning in China and have long been hailed as the “King of Nuts,” cherished worldwide mainly for their economic and culinary value. Chinese chestnuts are world-renowned and are referred to as “Chinese Sweet Chestnuts” in the international market. As early as the 1st century AD, they were an export commodity shipped to the West. Chestnuts are sun-loving trees and thrive best when planted in open, sunny mountainous or hilly areas. They are not picky about soil types and can grow in dry, poor soils, demonstrating strong adaptability and easy survival. They are cultivated across all provinces in China. Along with dates and persimmons, chestnuts are known as “iron crops” or “woody grains.”