Acorn is unusual when compared to our common nuts because it is much lower in oils

and proteins and higher in starch. It has a high tannin content that makes it so astringent that it is

inedible without treatment. Indians buried the acorn for a long enough time for the groundwater

to leach out the tannin. For more immediate use they dried the acorn, ground it to a fine powder,

cooked and rinsed it many times in water until they leached out all the tannin.

For some reasons we no do not use our native acorns at all.

Nut Nutrition

Nuts are very high in protein but they are also high in oil. (Oil is same as fat but in nuts it

is in liquid form as nut-oil). Protein content averages about 20 percent, same as most of our

meats (about 11 grams in a 2-ounce or 36-g serving). Four of our nuts—chestnuts, coconuts,

macadamia nuts and pecans—are lower in protein. Few people realize that a total of 50 to 70

percent of the nut meat is oil (28 to 40 grams in a 2-ounce or 36-g serving). When eating nuts

you consume the same amount, or more, oil as if you were eating raw bacon (55 percent fat). All

that oil can be a real detriment for people on low-fat diets, unless they are able to eat just a tiny

handful at a time (which is nearly impossible from freshly roasted nuts). Sprinkling a few on

cereal, salad, or even frozen yogurt, won't set off any alarm bells, but emptying a bowl of

cashews during a football game in front of the TV can shoot your fat allotment for a week (and

salt for a month). It is a blessing, though, that most of the oil is not the saturated kind that raises

blood cholesterol level. The average saturated fat (of the total fat) in most nuts and seeds is only

10 to 15 percent, except in coconut with 76 percent.

Even though high in nutrition thanks to their protein content, their high total oil

downgrades nuts and seeds on dietitians’ scale. Though low in saturated oil, they are still high in

calories. We eat nuts and seeds for their flavor, more than for their nutrition. But help is coming.

Food scientists are researching the possibility of lower-oil nuts with some success. The U.S.

Department of Agriculture in the late 1980s developed a technique that removes half of the oil

from a peanut. They gently press fresh nuts to remove the oil without damaging the kernel. A

bath in hot water helps return the squashed nuts to their original shape. These lower-oil peanuts

retain most of their flavor, and, after roasting, they are even crunchier than unprocessed nuts.

Something, however, didn’t go right because they never came on the market.

From Nut Tree to Table

All the most commonly available nuts have excellent flavor, yet some have high prices

and are considered luxury or gourmet items, like macadamias and cashews. The nuts considered

ordinary and run-of-the-mill, like peanuts, are bargain-priced in comparison. The major reason

for price variation is ease and low cost of growing and harvesting, not the quality of the nut.

Successfully domesticated nuts, like walnuts, give high yield and are easy to harvest.

High yield means 100 to 200 pounds (45 to 90 kg) (unshelled) for every tree (for a chestnut tree,

even 300 pounds or 140 kg). They lose very little of this crop to insects, and harvesting is

mechanized. A machine grabs the tree, shakes the devil out of it and harvesters collect the fallen

nuts with simple end-loaders from the smooth, stone and weed-free, park-like ground

surrounding the tree. Some nut trees have much lower yield but growers can plant them closer

together, so they still produce a high yield for the amount of land they take up. Almond trees, for

example, are small compared to walnut trees, and the yield from each almond tree is only about 8

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