My friend makes money from ordinary walnuts. He taught us how to peel the fruits without damaging the kernels: perfect “butterflies” are obtained.

Walnut is a valuable product that is used in the food industry. Its fruits can be consumed personally or for industrial production. Many entrepreneurs today are actively developing their walnut growing business. Just a few hectares of area can generate considerable income. An important stage in walnut farming is the process of harvesting and processing.

How is the crop harvested?

Harvesting begins in September, when the green peel cracks and easily separates from the nut itself. Some owners prefer to wait until they fall to the ground. However, this process can be greatly extended over time. Agile rodents and birds will steal part of the harvest. To collect walnuts faster, it is recommended to shake them off the branches. Before collecting, it is worth clearing the soil under the trees, then the debris will not interfere with the work. One person can climb the tree and brush the branches while other helpers collect fallen nuts. You can also use sticks and flexible rods to knock down fruits. It is important to be careful not to damage the tree or break branches. Since growing walnuts on an industrial scale involves planting a large number of trees, harvesting is a labor-intensive process. Engineers from different countries are constantly coming up with devices to make work easier. So German inventors created a walnut tree shaker. This mechanism is attached to the base of the trunk and the tractor. In just a few minutes, all the fruits will be on the ground without damaging the tree. Varieties that have thin and fragile shells are removed with special fruit pickers. This helps preserve more whole fruits, which are suitable for long-term storage.

Sorting and drying

After the crop is harvested, it is necessary to sort and dry it. The entire mass is divided according to this principle:

specimens densely covered with green skin;
fruits with broken shells;
whole nuts.

They all need to be thoroughly dried in the fresh air. It is necessary to spread the film and spread the fruits in 1-2 layers. Periodically, the crop is turned over. Those fruits that are tightly covered with green peel are left in a separate box for several days. During this time, they ripen and the shells separate more easily. You can use a special green peel cleaner. It will allow you to get rid of it in a short time and without damaging the shell.

Cleaning methods

Peeling a walnut from the shell is a necessary procedure. This process is labor-intensive, it requires a certain skill, otherwise you will not get beautiful kernels (butterfly). Calibration is usually carried out before cleaning. It involves sorting walnuts by size. The most gentle method of cleaning kernels is manual or mechanical cleaning. In this case, it is possible to maintain the integrity of up to 80% of the nuclei. However, no more than 15 kg per hour can be processed in this way. Special equipment makes it possible to increase productivity to 200 or more kilograms per hour, but the share of whole kernels will decrease to 40-60%. After splitting the shell, it is necessary to separate it from the kernel. This procedure is often carried out manually, using simple tools. If you are careful, the butterfly yield will increase significantly. In total, as a result of removing the shell, the yield of kernels is 35-45. That is, to obtain 1 kg of peeled kernel, you will have to process 2.5-3 kg of nuts. At the same time, the cost of purified kernels, depending on the quality, can increase 4-6 times.

Walnuts

An old walnut tree can produce up to 100 kilograms of fruit per year. Such a tree must at least be about one meter in length, if not higher, and it must grow for at least thirty years. A fruit tree that is between twenty and thirty years old can produce about 40 kilograms of nuts per year.

Also, a lot depends on the conditions in which the walnut grew, on the weather and many other factors. But what is important is not how many fruits a nut tree bears per year, but how to properly peel the nuts so that they have their commercial value. This is exactly what will be discussed in this article.

The fact is that crushed nuts immediately fall in price. Don't expect to be showered with money if you grow a few trees in your garden. But you can make good money just by cleaning the nuts properly so that the kernels look beautiful, like butterflies.

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Benefits and harms of the product

The peculiarity of walnuts is their unique composition. They have a high percentage of complete plant protein, contain vitamins A, E, C, P, K, B, amino acids, carbohydrates, provitamin A, zinc, copper, iron, iodine, calcium, potassium, cobalt, phosphorus.

Benefits of fruits

The benefits that nuts provide are important for the human body and consist of the following parameters:

When used correctly, they stimulate brain activity, neurochemical processes, and prevent the formation of cancer cells.
Used for those with a tendency to be overweight, in dietary nutrition.
It contains anti-inflammatory elements.
Increases male libido and testosterone.
Stabilizes metabolism, prevents gastrointestinal disorders and diarrhea from occurring, and reduces toxins in the body.
Normalizes blood pressure, cardiovascular function, prevents the formation of cholesterol, and makes the blood vessels stronger.
Strengthens the immune system.
Walnut tincture helps relieve toothache.
Treats anemia, problems with the thyroid gland.
Has a calming effect, increases stress resistance, relieves tension after a working day.
Strengthens bones.
Lowers blood sugar.
Prevents the formation of varicose veins.

Harm from nuts

Walnuts can be harmful even to a healthy person if eaten in large quantities. There are contraindications for use for both men and women:

People who are allergic to them or prone to protein allergies should not add them to food.
Overeating walnuts can lead to complications, anaphylactic shock.
Due to their high calorie content, people with 2-4 degrees of obesity are not recommended to eat them.
With increased blood clotting.
They can cause rashes and itching if there are diseases of the epidermis.
With exacerbation of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
You should not eat them if the mucous membranes of the mouth or palatine tonsils are irritated.

Daily intake of nuts per day

Doctors recommend adhering to the daily norm so that this product does not harm the body:

for an adult who has no contraindications, it is advisable to eat about 10 pieces;
pregnant women - about 11-13;
children – 4-6 fruits per day.

Important!
It is recommended to include these fruits in the diet in the fall, when vitamin deficiency begins.

How to properly peel walnuts

If you have a lot of nuts and you need to reduce the time spent cleaning them, it is better to use special tools that you can make at home.

But if you peel your nuts this way, they will lose their beautiful appearance and will be crushed into small pieces, and only some of them will be able to survive. Such a nut will fall in price by at least thirty percent.

To get perfect kernels, you need to find an old glass bottle in your home.

A bottle of champagne, wine or beer may be suitable. Place a nut on top of the neck and gently tap it with a hammer. This way it will split into two parts. This method will help you crack any nuts, even those with the thickest skins.

How to choose a product

The quality of walnuts can be determined immediately upon purchase by paying attention to some nuances:

When storing nuts for a long time, you should choose unshelled ones.
In good fruits, the surface will be embossed with wrinkles, without chips or cracks.
When purchasing, you need to pay attention to color and weight. It is better to take ones with a uniform color and heavy ones.
The surface should also not release oil.
You should not buy crushed walnuts, because they may already contain bacteria.
You can pick ripe fruits in early October. Ripeness can be determined by the opening of the husk.
To determine the freshness of the nut, you can shake it; if you hear ripples inside, then the fruit is already dry inside.
When purchasing already peeled fruits, you should take them with a light-skinned kernel and without a characteristic unpleasant odor.
They should not taste salty or rancid.
If you buy already packaged, then you definitely need to pay attention to the production date. The packaging also does not have to be completely transparent.

How does my friend make money from nuts?

My friend buys unshelled nuts. They are very cheap this way. He tries to choose nuts with thin skins to make them much easier and more convenient to peel, then he cleans and sells them. It's simple. He manages to clear about five kilograms in an hour.

It stores nuts in a dry, cool and well-ventilated area in wooden boxes or cloth bags, which is very practical.

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Preparing to clean the product

Nuts should be prepared for peeling in the case of hard, small-fruited and large-fruited fruits, as well as in large volumes, in order to increase the speed of their purification. There may be several options for this:

pour boiling water over and leave for 8 minutes;
dry in the sun;
soak in water with salt for half an hour;
heat the nuts in the oven at 200 degrees for 10 minutes;
If the fruits have just been collected, they should be left to dry for 6 weeks before chopping.

Technological process of cleaning nuts

The process of peeling kernels is quite labor-intensive. In industrial conditions, cleaning is carried out mechanically using special high-performance equipment.

The cleaning technology includes the following stages:

Drying . Pre-drying is an important step that protects the kernels from mold and other damage. This process is carried out in special drying chambers. For drying, tray dryers SL-100V, SL-50 can be used.
Calibration by fraction. After drying on a conveyor belt, the nuts are sent to a calibrating and crushing machine. Most manufacturers use just such a machine to clean grains, although there are other ways to clean pine nuts. Such a machine includes a system of vibrating sieves and a crushing hopper in which the shell is destroyed. Debris and too small nuts fall into the appropriately sized slots in the sieve. Next, the nuts are directed into the distribution grooves that are equipped with the crushing shafts. Rotation of the shafts in different directions makes it easy to break the shells.

Technological line for the production of pine nuts.
Cleaning kernels from shells and debris . The chopped nuts are again fed to vibrating sieves, which sift out debris, remains of broken shells and other impurities. After this procedure, about 2% of impurities still remain in the nuts, which are later selected manually.
Washing of cleaned grains. The process is carried out in special machines with a load of 5-6 kg (UM-1). In small factories, the grains are washed by hand and then placed on trays, which are immediately sent to drying chambers. At pine nut processing enterprises, grain from 1500 kg per shift is washed in automatic machines (for example, MM-600, MM-300).

Washing machine MM-150.
Re-drying . The cleaned kernels are sent along a conveyor belt to the drying chamber. The moisture content of the finally dried product should not exceed 10%. To do this, the temperature in the drying chambers is maintained at 30-60 degrees. Drying time is 14-16 hours.
Removing the film covering the core. The function of removing thin husks covering the surface of the grains is performed by a hulling machine (MSHA-03). For final cleaning of unwanted impurities of small weight and husk residues, a powerful fan is used. Removing the amniotic membrane (film) allows you to improve the attractive appearance of nuts and increase their consumer properties.
Removal of small impurities (small particles of the kernel, shells, film residues) using a pneumatic separator (3M-5, 3M-10/5, 3M-2, PS-1).
Optical sorting – using special modern equipment (photo sorter), the kernels are sorted by color. Rotten, spoiled kernels are removed from the conveyor belt with a powerful air stream. Thanks to the strong air pressure, the device is capable of removing up to 500 thousand defective grains within one minute.
Manual sorting.

The last stage after the cleaning process is manual sorting.

All of the listed technological processes are carried out in different workshops, since during the primary processing a lot of debris and dust are generated.

After entering the warehouse, washed, dried and winnowed kernels are packaged in vacuum packaging, which protects them from damage, which helps to increase shelf life. Some of the kernels are fried and processed in various seasonings or regular fine salt. Finished packaged products are sent from warehouses to stores, supermarkets, and markets.

Packing

How to peel hazelnuts

Under the shell, the hazelnut is covered with a brown skin. You can also eat it, but it is better to peel it. Often in this form, the fruits are used for confectionery purposes, for example, for making sweets, chocolate bars and serving dishes.

How to peel hazelnuts by roasting

The most popular way to peel hazelnuts. For this you will need any frying pan and a spatula or spoon. The coating of the pan doesn't matter. The process occurs in several stages:

The pan should be preheated over medium heat before frying.
Add nuts to the pan without adding oil.
Frying lasts from 5 to 10 minutes. The fruits are constantly stirred so that they do not burn.
The fried kernels are poured onto a towel or plate. You need to let them cool.
Then you should peel the hazelnut by rubbing it between your palms.

The process takes little time and allows you to easily peel the skin.

How to peel hazelnuts using a microwave

This method allows you to quickly peel nuts. But there is a risk that the fruits may burn if the processing is done incorrectly. The process goes like this:

It is necessary to wash and dry the kernels.
Spread them in an even layer on the surface of the plate. It is advisable to use a flat dish.
Turn on microwave preheat for 30 seconds. Stop it and mix the nuts with a wooden spatula. This procedure must be repeated several times until the skin begins to peel off.
Take out a plate of nuts and place it on a wooden board. Let cool.
Peel the kernels by rubbing between your palms.

Important! When using a microwave oven, you must use a wooden spatula. The plate becomes very hot and may crack if it comes into contact with a metal spoon or spatula.

How to quickly peel hazelnuts using boiling water

The method is suitable in cases where you need to peel the fruits raw without skin. Boiling water will help preserve all the beneficial properties, as well as the integrity of the hazel. You can clean hazelnuts as follows:

Wash the kernels thoroughly to remove dust.
Prepare a deep container that closes tightly, for example, a jar of the required volume.
Place the fruits in a container.
Pour boiling water over it.
Cover tightly with a lid and blanch for 10–15 minutes.
Drain and remove the skin with your fingers.

This method of peeling the husk is not popular because the process is labor-intensive and time-consuming.

Advice

In order to be able to choose correctly, store wisely, and not overuse walnuts, you should follow several tips:

Suitable for athletes to restore energy balance. It can be added to protein shakes.
When living in a polluted environmental environment, it is recommended to consume walnuts daily.
Women during pregnancy should consult their doctor about the daily intake of this product.
To make it more convenient to chop fruits, you can use an improvised stand, for example, a clutch.
When splitting them with a door, you should not pull it too zealously.
The nut cracker should be chosen to fully encircle the nut. This will help you use less force when chopping.

Walnuts are known for their ability to treat various diseases, strengthen the immune system and improve brain activity. In order for the body to receive all the necessary properties, vitamins, and microelements from these fruits, one should adhere to the daily norm of their consumption.

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