Xiangning Wingnut

Xiangning Wingnut

Xiangning Wingnut is a product certified with a geographical indication for agricultural products.

　　At the ten-thousand-mu wingnut base in Xiangning County, people are busily engaged in land preparation, seedling cultivation, and the care of both new and old wingnut oil trees. In early March, during the "China's Rarity, the World's Only – The Magical Wingnut Oil Tree Writers' Symposium" held in Xiangning County, experts, scholars from across the country, and journalists from over 20 media outlets expressed heartfelt admiration for the local wingnut industry development after visiting the site.

　　The wingnut oil tree is unique to China and is currently found only in certain areas of the Lüliang and Zhongtiao Mountains. Every part of the tree is valuable, making it an excellent raw material for the development of food, medicine, and beauty products. In 2000, with strong support from the local government, Zhang Lianshui, a national model worker and farmer entrepreneur, invested in establishing Shanxi Qierkang Wingnut Biological Products Co., Ltd., dedicating efforts to the development of the wingnut industry. Currently, related products such as wingnut oil capsules have received national certification. This year, while consolidating the three major wingnut forest bases in Xiangning County — Xijiaokou, Guanwangmiao, and Yicheng — they have also expanded the scale in surrounding areas, encouraging local farmers to plant wingnut oil trees on a large scale, forming an industrialized development model of "technology + company + base + farmers."

　　The development of the Xiangning wingnut industry has promoted entrepreneurial income growth among farmers and has also partially alleviated environmental pollution caused by coal mining in the area, achieving a win-win situation in economic, ecological, and social benefits.

　　Xiangning Wingnut

　　Geographic Scope

　　The protected area for the Xiangning Wingnut geographical indication lies within Xiangning County at the southern end of the Lüliang Mountains, between latitudes 35°41′30″–36°09′07″ and longitudes 110°30′18″–111°16′57″, at altitudes of 800–1300 meters. It covers sunny and semi-shaded mountain valleys and moist regions. Specifically, the protected zones mainly include Hong’ao, Ya’xia, Shuangfengyan, Zhangyuan, and Chanuyuhe village committees in Shuanghe Township; Xiaobei, Jiazhuang, Houyetou, and Tair’ao village committees in Guanwangmiao Township and the Yunqiu Mountain area; Yuantou, Zhijiazhuang, Tunziyao, Xijiaokou, and other village committees in Xijiaokou Township, as well as Liuling, Tanping, Mengzhuang, and Changzuowan village committees in Zhaoling Township; Hanjue, Xipo, and Yingjiagou village committees in Xipo Town, and Zhangma village committee in Changning Town. In total, there are 22 village committees across six townships, covering a protected area of 3,000 hectares with an annual yield of 10,000 tons.

　　Product Quality Characteristics

　　1. External Sensory Characteristics: The Xiangning wingnut is a nut-like drupe, nearly round or broadly elliptical, measuring 1.5–2.2 cm in length and 1.2–1.5 cm in diameter. Its exterior is dry and cottony, slightly soft, with eight wing-like ridges and a persistent upper calyx tube; the kernel (mesocarp) is hard, with eight blunt longitudinal ridges, spindle-shaped, cylindrical, or obovoid, 1.5–2 cm in length and 1–1.2 cm in diameter, with a fruit stalk about 3–5 cm long. The inner pericarp is papery, and the seed is spindle-shaped, with a leathery seed coat and thick cotyledons rich in oil, giving off a walnut kernel aroma. 2. Internal Quality Indicators: The Xiangning wingnut is rich in protein, amino acids, vitamin E, and trace elements, and its fatty acid profile is particularly outstanding, having been widely recognized historically. It contains approximately 36.51g/100g of protein, 45.34g/100g of fat, with fatty acids consisting of about 41.16% oleic acid, 45.53% linoleic acid, and 6.66% linolenic acid. The Xiangning wingnut is a rare and high-quality woody oilseed with high oil content. Its fatty acids are especially abundant in linoleic and linolenic acids, and it has the highest vitamin E content among plant oilseeds, averaging 20.4% oil content (whole fruit), with the kernel containing up to 45% oil. 3. Safety Requirements: Production strictly follows the national hazard-free food standard system issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, adhering to the requirements of NY5307-2005 "Hazard-Free Food – Deciduous Fruit Tree Nuts."