Estimativa quantificada dos subprodutos do castanheiro e algumas utilizações potenciais

Abstract

The sector of chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) experiences a highly ambiguous situation. If, on the one hand, producers have feel a strong incentive to invest in the crop, due to the favourable prices that the nut has been maintaining, on the other hand some discouragement tends to arise, due to the diseases and pests that devastate the species. In any case, the chestnut remains the main source of income for farmers in several parishes and municipalities in the North and Centre of the country.

Nowadays, the chestnut is valued above all for the edible part of the fruit. However, with a view to improve the profitability of producers and other agents in the sector and to increase the sustainability of the production systems, it would be important to find new uses for the by-products associated with the harvest and the industrial transformation. Barks, hedgehogs, flowers, leaves and pruning wood can be important raw materials for different business areas, especially as they contain a high number of chemical compounds with potential application in the food and/or pharmaceutical industry.

In this work some statistical data of the species and an estimate of the by-products are presented, as well as some of their potential uses.