HOMELAND OF WALNUT
Walnut is a natural plant of a wide region extending from the Carpathian Mountains to Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Southern Russia, India, Manchuria and Korea.
The homeland of walnut is the Ghilan region of Iran according to some and for others, China.
However, a larger majority of people indicates a much larger area as the homeland of walnuts.
According to archeological studies, walnut is a natural plant of a wide region extending from the Carpathian mountains to Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Southern Russia, India, Manchuria and Korea.
Anatolian Walnut - Juglans Regia, which has a large natural spreading area in the world due to its origin, has been taken out of its natural spreading area through various migrations and trade trails, and today it has become a type of fruit that is grown almost everywhere in the world, except for the tropics.
FRUIT OF JUPITER
It is known that walnuts were taken to Greece by trade trails passing through Turkey from Iran between the years 750-500 BC.
The walnut, which later passed from Greece to Rome, was named Jovis Glans (Jupiter's fruit) in Europe, from which Juglans, which we use today as the scientific name of the walnut, is derived.
The spread of walnut around the world continued for centuries as it was taken to England in 1562 via France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and then taken to North America by the first immigrants in the late 17th century, in the pockets of immigrants.
3,000 YEARS IN ANATOLIA
In archaeological research, traces have been found that people living in Anatolia have been familiar with the walnut for at least 3,000 years and benefited from its fruit, bark, branches and even leaves.
Until recently, Turkey was the pioneer country in walnut cultivation, followed by countries such as Greece, Italy and France. With the increase in walnut production in the USA, China and Chile, which started walnut production in 1867, high flavored fresh walnuts are able to reach tables all over the world for all 12 months.
3,000 YEARS OF WALNUT CULTURE
Annatolia’s fruit cultivation culture dates back to ancient times, and has been named the homeland of walnuts, as for many other fruit species.
Anatolia has more than 4.5 million walnut trees as of today.
Walnut has been an indispensable traditional fruit in Anatolian cuisine for thousands of years, especially in form of snacks, bakery and biscuit industry, perfume, jam, halva making, dye, tannin, as oil in the plastic and rubber industry, pharmaceutical industry, sausage, samsa and dried fruit pulp production.
It would be appropriate to say that there is no other country that uses walnuts, which is an indispensable flavor of Anatolian cuisine, more than Turkey in its culinary culture.
Walnut, not only a delight, but also firewood made from its shell and hand-carved art pieces made from its timber, can also be referred to as Turkey's greatest cultural asset.
THE HIGHEST AMOUNT OF WALNUT CONSUMPTION IN THE WORLD
Turkey is the country that consumes the most walnuts in the world, with its 3,000-year walnut culture heritage and 3.3 kg per person of consumption of this delicious and healthy fruit annually.
An average of 265 thousand tons of walnuts are consumed annually in Turkey.
Thanks to new investments of the members of the Walnut Growers Association of Turkey, walnut producers in Turkey have the capacity to meet a significant amount of this demand with domestic resources in the coming years.
Our growers produce and deliver to the market with world quality standards from harvest to table, with the brand TURKISH WALNUT and have always been making efforts to improve further to offer the best of walnuts for generations.
Thus, our walnut producers will carry the demand for walnuts from harvest to table with the taste of Turkish Walnut, and will provide a helping hand to the Turkish economy, employment and production.