Walnuts

The nut kernels of all the species are edible. The nuts are rich in oil, and are widely eaten both fresh and in cookery. Walnut oil is expensive and consequently is used sparingly; most often in salad dressing. Walnuts are also an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, and have been shown as helpful in lowering cholesterol. Due to the high unsaturated fat content of the oil walnuts are used in Oil paint, which has often employed walnut oil as an effective binding medium, known for its clear, glossy consistency and non-toxicity.

In some countries immature nuts in their husks are preserved in vinegar. In England these are called “pickled walnuts” and this is one of the major uses for fresh nuts from the small scale plantings. In Armenian cuisine, walnuts are preserved in sugar syrup and eaten whole. In Italy, liqueurs called Nocino and Nocello are flavoured with walnuts, while Salsa di Noci (”Walnut Sauce”) is a pasta sauce originating from Liguria. In Georgia, walnuts are ground along with other ingredients to make walnut sauce.

Walnuts are heavily used in India. In Jammu, India it is used widely as a prasad (offering) to Mother Goddess Vaisnav Devi and, generally, as a dry food in the season of festivals such as Diwali.

The walnut shell has a wide variety of uses.

The shells of walnuts.

Cleansing and polishing: Walnut shells are mostly used to clean soft metals, fiberglass, plastics, wood and stone. This environmentally friendly and recyclable soft grit abrasive is well suited for air blasting, de-burring, de-scaling, and polishing operations because of its elasticity and resilience. Uses include cleaning automobile and jet engines, electronic circuit boards, and paint and graffiti removal. For example: In the early days of jet transportation, crushed walnut shells were used to scour the compressor airfoils clean, but when engines with air cooled vanes and blades in the turbine started being manufactured this practice was stopped because the crushed shells tended to plug up the cooling passages to the turbine, resulting in turbine failures due to overheating.
Oil well drilling: The shell is used widely in oil well drilling for lost circulation material in making and maintaining seals in fracture zones and unconsolidated formations.
Flour made from walnut shells is widely used in the plastics industry.
Paint thickener: Walnut shells are added to paint to give it a thicker consistency for “plaster effect” ranges.
Explosives: Used as a filler in dynamite.
Cosmetic cleaner: Occasionally used in soap and exfoliating cleansers

Husks

Walnut husks are often used to create a rich yellow-brown to dark brown dye that is used for dyeing fabric and for other purposes.

Walnuts are considered to be a Herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine. They are said to tonify kidneys, strengthen the back and knees, warm and hold Qi in lungs and help kidneys to grasp the Qi, moisten the intestines and move stool. It is believed to stop asthma and is prescribed to be taken between bouts of asthma, but not for acute asthma. It is also used by the elderly to relieve constipation.

Diets containing two percent, six percent, or nine percent walnuts were found to reverse several parameters of brain aging, as well as age-related motor and cognitive deficits.

Walnuts contain alpha-linolenic acid ( ALA), an essential omega-3 fatty acid, and other polyphenols that act as antioxidants and may actually block the signals produced by free radicals that can later produce compounds that would increase inflammation.

A great deal of data suggests that the deficits associated with aging, for example, Alzheimer’s disease and cardiovascular diseases, arise as a result of an increasing inability of the aging organism to protect itself against inflammation and oxidative stress, providing fertile ground for the development of neurodegenerative diseases.

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