Among the wide variety of nuts, only one is called royal. This is the macadamia nut. The homeland of the walnut tree is Australia. Aborigines consider macadamia a sacred tree for the ability of its fruits to heal diseases.
The story of the discovery of the royal nut
Macadamia is an amazing tree on which royal nuts grow. Europeans first learned about macadamia in the 19th century thanks to the German botanist Ferdinand Müller, who studied the nature of the Australian continent. Ferdinand Müller served as director of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. When describing the flora of Australia, the scientist named the walnut tree after his friend John Macadam, who was neither a biologist nor a botanist, but was engaged in chemistry. Also, John McAdam was well known as a politician.
How the macadam nut grows
The macadamia tree begins to bear fruit only eight years after the start of planting. The life span of a tree can be up to one hundred years. It grows in height up to 15 meters.
In early spring, it blooms with white, pink, purple flowers. The inflorescences are collected in clusters that gracefully hang down. When this tree blooms, the air around is filled with a sweet scent.
Its fruits ripen within six months. First, green balls with a diameter of about two centimeters appear on the tree. As it ripens, the nut falls out of the outer skin to the ground.
The shell of this fruit is particularly hard. To get the kernel, the nut is processed industrially. With the help of machine production, each nut is sawn. The walnut shell is cut by a machine with a special blade. Nuts with a slot are cracked with a special key, which must be issued upon purchase.
At present, the halo of distribution of the macadamia tree has expanded significantly. The nut is becoming an increasingly popular food staple all over the world. It is grown in countries with tropical climates: Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, China, New Zealand. Large plantations of this unique nut are concentrated in the Hawaiian Islands. The United States of America began planting walnut trees in the states of Florida and California.
Useful properties of nuts
Exotic Macadam nuts are renowned for their remarkable taste and unique health benefits.
The content of vitamins and minerals in macadamia is an order of magnitude higher than in other nuts. Despite the fact that the nut is very high in calories and contains a large amount of fat, it helps to cleanse the blood vessels of cholesterol plaques. It also helps to normalize blood sugar levels. The high content of potassium and magnesium in nuts helps to improve cerebral circulation, improves cardiovascular activity of the body.
The chemical composition of nuts, containing vitamins, flavonoids, fiber and minerals, strengthens the immune system and increases the tone of the body.
Nuts are widely used in cooking. They are added to salads, fish and seafood dishes. Macadam nuts give an unusual taste to baked goods. They cook pancakes with them, bake cookies and cakes, make desserts.
Macadamia is the most expensive nut in the world. The high price category that these nuts belong to is due to several reasons: the laboriousness of collection and processing, as well as the cost of delivery to the European continent.
