PISTACHIO

Pistachio

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The oldest trace of pistachio in the world is a piece of half-burnt wood from the Stone Age, which was found about a thousand years ago around the city of Fasa (in Fars province), which is now exhibited in the Pars Museum.

The famous Greek historian Herodotus also mentioned the cultivation of pistachio in his writings, so the pistachio tree has a historical history in Iran. It is believed that the history of its cultivation dates back to four thousand years ago. Iranians have realized the blood-forming, life-giving and intelligence-enhancing properties of pistachio from the earliest days of history; For instance, according to the ancient tales, Zahak, the disgraceful king among Iranians, called the victorious Persians (pistachio eaters), and the Parthians described as people who had always had pistachios as an invigorating, nutrient, and low-volume food. As Ferdowsi the great narrates, in the last days of ancient times, the Sassanid king commands to store pistachios as a vital and energizing food in the fortresses of Khorasan in order to resist the enemy’s invasion. In the invasion of the Tatars, the Iranian stands for a long time under the siege of the Mongols, in the famous Kalion fortress in Khorasan, while their food was only pistachios and dried meat.

The Latin word pistacia is derived from its Persian name piste or pesteh. In ancient Arabic books, the word pistachio is used in contrast to the Arabic word (fistagh).

Pistachio is a plant that has been cultivated in different parts of Iran for a long time and there are wild pistachio forests in the northeastern region of Iran, especially on the border of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. The pistachio tree supposed to be domesticated and cultivated in Iran about 3-4 thousand years ago. Today, Kerman province, especially Rafsanjan, play an important role in cultivating pistachio in Iran and the world. Pistachio tree has a long life, which can live up to 300 years. Pistachio trees produce a large amount of seeds in the seventh to the tenth year after planting, and in the twentieth year reach the highest yield. It is a deciduous tree that can grow up to 10 meters and produce an average of 50 kg in a two-year period. Pistachio trees are fairly hardy in the right conditions and can survive saline soil and temperatures ranging between −10 °C in winter and 48 °C in summer. This tree needs hot and dry summers and well-drained soil to produce and does not grow well in wet or cold areas.

Iran is the world’s largest producer of pistachios, followed by the United States and China.

Iran and the United States are the two main countries in the field of pistachio production and exports in the world; About seventy to eighty percent of the annual production of pistachios has been in the possession of these two countries. Nearly half of the world’s pistachios distributed in 2019 were supplied by the United States due to reduction of pistachio production in Iran. The reasons for this decrease in production are U.S. trade sanctions against Iran, climate change, and weaknesses in economic and irrigation management.

The United States mechanized the process of producing pistachios, which caused the country’s yield 3 tons per hectare and three times the Iranian production per hectare. Another problem of exporters is the indiscriminate use of pesticides in pistachio orchards, which threatens Iran’s small share of Iranian pistachios in European markets. Since the European Union has strict rules in this regard, if Iranian miss this market, it will soon take over by the US.

Between 2009 and 2014, Iran, the United States, Turkey, Syria and the European Union were the top five producers of pistachios in the world, with Israel accounting for the highest per capita consumption of pistachios.

In general, pistachio divide into two groups, round and long. But traditionally in Iran, there are about 90 kinds of pistachio, some of which are widely and commercially grown and some are grown rarely and scatter.

Pistachios contain high amounts of fiber, protein, potassium, zinc, phosphorus, vitamin B6 and manganese and contain the highest number of antioxidants among all nuts. This type of seed has low fat and high nutritional value and helps to lose weight and regulate blood glucose levels.

Drying pistachios is one of the common methods of storing them. to store nuts must be kept in the freezer to prevent growing aflatoxin fungus on the surface of the seeds and kernels. Consumption of this fungus is carcinogenic. Certainly, the best way of preventing corruption is placing tablets in large quantities in the depots.