Pecans
The pecan (Carya illinoinensis), is a species of hickory, native to south-central North America. A pecan, like the fruit of all other members of the hickory genus, is strictly speaking a drupe not a nut, a fruit with a single stone or pit, surrounded by a husk.
Pecans first became known to Spanish explorers in what is now Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana. More familiar with the genus Juglans, these explorers referred to the nuts asnogales and nueces, the Spanish terms for “walnut trees” and “fruit of the walnut.” One of the most recently domesticated major crops – commercial growing of pecans in the United States didn’t start until the 1880s.
Pecan trees may live and bear edible seeds for more than 300 years.
Pecans are a good source of protein and unsaturated fats. Like walnuts pecans are rich in omega-6 fatty acids.
The antioxidants and plant sterols found in pecans reduce high cholesterol by reducing the “bad” LDL cholesterol levels
FORMATS
- Halves
- Pieces
- Roasted
OTHER POINTS TO NOTE
Pecan sorting and grading are done by size and colour rather than by variety.
We buy the brown-coloured fancy grade pecans rather than the cheaper redder-coloured 'choice' grade.
COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN
- USA
- Mexico
- South Africa
HARVESTED
- November to December
VARIETIES
Most commercial growers spend a lot of time choosing the right combination of varieties for their orchards.
They need to ensure good cross-pollination, choose disease-resistant varieties best suited to their specific orchard conditions, and avoid over-fruiting in young trees, which means the mature trees usually provide lower-quality fruit.
Key varieties are Desirable, Morland, Summer and Cape Fear, but pecan varieties change relatively frequently as nut quality drops off as trees mature, and disease resistance reduces
MACRONUTRIENTS
- Pecans have 9% protein, lower than other nuts
- Very low in Sodium
- 70% of the calorific value comes from fat, but it is rich in healthier fat
- High in Monounsaturated fat and a source of Polyunsaturated fat
VITAMINS & MINERALS
- High in Thiamin and a good source of Vitamin B6
- Very high in Manganese, and a good source of other key minerals Copper, Magnesium, Zinc and Iron