The chestnut
The chestnut - one species, many varieties
In the chestnut groves of the alpine valleys you will find an intimate mixture of different chestnut varieties. This corresponds to the original ambtion of the farming communities to obtain as many different chestnut products as possible, depending on the time of harvest, the location and the type of use.
In Castasegna there are still four varieties of cestnut: Ensat, Marun, Lüina and Vescuv
|
Variety |
Tree |
Maturing |
Fruit |
Remarks |
|
Vescuv |
Knobbly and with many outgrowths |
Early |
Large chestnut, with frequent inner skin inclusions |
Not suitable for drying |
|
Lüina |
It has numerous small branches along the trunk. |
Late |
Small, reddish with thin skin and easy to peel after drying |
Very tasty and sweet. It is ideal for making flour and dried chestnuts, also because it does not loose its compactness after drying. |
|
Marun |
Of medium stature, tending to twist |
Relatively late |
Rather large, without inner skin inclusions and irregular hilum (stalk) |
It does not ripen in Soglio because of the altitude. Chestnut very caluable and very sweet, not suitable for drying. |
|
Ensat |
Foliage insertion very high |
Late |
No inner skin inclusions, easy to remove |
Empty fruit cups tend to stay on the tree even in winter. Suitable for drying. |