ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HORSE CHESTNUT

Horse chestnut, or Aesculus hippocastanum, is a flowering plant that belongs to the Sapindaceae family and is native to South East Europe. It’s usually a large tree that can reach up to 39 m in height. The palmately compound leaves are oppositely arranged and have about 5–7 leaflets. The length of one leaflet can vary from 13 to 30 cm; the petiole is about 6–20 cm long. The leaf scars that remain on branchlets after the leaves have fallen possess a peculiar horseshoe shape. The white flowers grow in upright whisks (about 10–30 cm tall). There are usually 20–50 flowers on each whisk. One whisk can give birth to only 1–5 fruits. The green, spiky shell of the fruit contains one (sometimes two or three) seeds that are similar to nuts. They are often called conkers. The shiny brown conker has a white spot at the base and is about 2–4 cm across.

The bark of the plant contains fatty oils, tannins, escin, triterpene saponin and esculin. The leaves of the tree are rich in flavonoids, rutin, spiraeoside, astragalin, violaxanthin, carotenoids. The horse chestnut flowers also contain rutin. The seeds are rich in starch, protein substances, tannins, saponins, vitamins B, C, K.

Other chemical substances:

• Glucosides
• Organic acids
• Fatty oils
• Vitamins A, B, C, K
• Coumarins
• Tanning components
• Pectins
• Flavonoids
• Starch

In addition to the above-mentioned substances, chestnut kernels contain chromium, iodine, calcium, iron, bromine.