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46-463: The pistachio ( / p ɪ ˈ s t ɑː ʃ i . oʊ , - ˈ s t æ ʃ -/ pih- STAH -shee-oh, -⁠ STASH - ; Pistacia vera ), a member of the cashew family , is a small to medium tree originating in Persia . The tree produces seeds that are widely consumed as food. The word can be countable or uncountable, meaning its plural is with or without an 's'. In 2022, world production of pistachios

92-616: A terebinth -like tree with almond -like nuts from Bactria . It appears in Dioscorides ' writings as pistákia (πιστάκια), recognizable as P. vera by its comparison to pine nuts . Pliny the Elder wrote in his Natural History that pistacia , "well known among us", was one of the trees unique to Syria, and that the seed was introduced into Italy by the Roman proconsul in Syria, Lucius Vitellius

138-464: A "soldier's life" or "soldier-like life", his pharmacopeia refers almost solely to plants found in the Greek-speaking eastern Mediterranean, making it likely that he served in campaigns, or travelled in a civilian capacity, less widely as supposed. The name Pedanius is Roman, suggesting that an aristocrat of that name sponsored him to become a Roman citizen. Between AD 50 and 70 Dioscorides wrote

184-562: A five-volume book in his native Greek, Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς (Perì hylēs íatrikēs), known in Western Europe more often by its Latin title De materia medica ("On Medical Material"), which became the precursor to all modern pharmacopeias . In contrast to many classical authors, Dioscorides' works were not "rediscovered" in the Renaissance , because his book had never left circulation; indeed, with regard to Western materia medica through

230-481: A rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value or DV) of protein, dietary fiber , several dietary minerals , and the B vitamins thiamin (73% DV) and vitamin B 6 (100% DV) (table). Pistachios are a moderate source (10–19% DV) of riboflavin , vitamin B 5 , folate , vitamin E , and vitamin K (table). The fat profile of raw pistachios consists mainly of monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats , with

276-546: A series of five tribes by Engler, and later into subfamilies by Takhtajan, as Anacardioideae (including tribes Anacardieae, Dobineae, Rhoideae, and Semecarpeae) and Spondiadoideae (including tribe Spondiadeae). Pell's (2008) molecular analysis reinstated the two subfamilies without further division into tribes (Pell 2004). Later, Min and Barfod, in the Flora of China (2008) reinstated the five tribes (four in Anacardioideae), and

322-522: A small amount of saturated fats (table). Saturated fatty acids include palmitic acid (10% of total) and stearic acid (2%) (table). Oleic acid is the most common monounsaturated fatty acid (52% of total fat). and linoleic acid , a polyunsaturated fatty acid, is 30% of total fat. Relative to other tree nuts, pistachios have a lower amount of fat and food energy, but higher amounts of potassium , vitamin K, γ-tocopherol , and certain phytochemicals such as carotenoids , and phytosterols . In July 2003,

368-694: A subset of the Terebintaceae called Cassuvlæ or Anacardeæ in 1818, using the herbarium that was collected by Christen Smith during a fated expedition headed by James Hingston Tuckey to explore the River Congo . The name and genera were based on the order with the same name that had been described by de Jussieu in 1759. The herbarium from that expedition contained only one genus from the family, Rhus . Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1824, used Robert Brown's name Cassuvlæ or Anacardeæ, wrote another description of

414-461: A typical serving of pistachios supplies substantial food energy (nutrition table), their consumption in normal amounts is not associated with weight gain or obesity . One review found that pistachio consumption lowered blood pressure in persons without diabetes mellitus . A 2021 review found that pistachio consumption for three months or less significantly reduced triglyceride levels. Anacardiaceae The Anacardiaceae , commonly known as

460-523: Is a desert plant and is highly tolerant of saline soil . It has been reported to grow well when irrigated with water having 3,000–4,000 ppm of soluble salts. Pistachio trees are fairly hardy in the right conditions and can survive temperatures ranging between −10 °C (14 °F) in winter and 48 °C (118 °F) in summer. They need a sunny position and well-drained soil. Pistachio trees do poorly in conditions of high humidity and are susceptible to root rot in winter if they get too much water and

506-572: Is a trait that has been selected by humans. Commercial cultivars vary in how consistently they split open. Each mature pistachio tree averages around 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of seeds, or around 50,000 seeds, every two years. Pistachio is from late Middle English pistace , from Old French , superseded in the 16th century by forms from Italian pistacchio , via Latin from Greek πιστάκιον pistákion , and from Middle Persian pistakē . Another name in Persian calling "smiling nuts" . Pistachio

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552-709: Is infection by the fungus Botryosphaeria , which causes panicle and shoot blight (symptoms include death of the flowers and young shoots ), and can damage entire pistachio orchards. In 2004, the rapidly growing pistachio industry in California was threatened by panicle and shoot blight first discovered in 1984. In 2011, anthracnose fungus caused a sudden 50% loss in the Australian pistachio harvest. Several years of severe drought in Iran around 2008 to 2015 caused significant declines in production. In 2022, world production of pistachios

598-587: Is native to Afghanistan , Iran and Central Asia . Archaeological evidence shows that pistachio seeds were a common food as early as 6750 BCE. The earliest evidence of pistachio consumption goes back to the Bronze Age Central Asia and comes from Djarkutan , modern Uzbekistan. Pistachio trees were introduced from Asia to Europe in the first century AD by the Romans. They are cultivated across Southern Europe and North Africa. Theophrastus described it as

644-436: Is the edible portion. The seed, commonly thought of as a nut, is a culinary nut , not a botanical nut . The fruit has a hard, cream-colored exterior shell. The seed has a mauve-colored skin and light green flesh, with a distinctive flavor. When the fruit ripens, the shell changes from green to an autumnal yellow/red and abruptly splits partly open. This is known as dehiscence , and happens with an audible pop. The splitting open

690-552: Is the prime historical source of information about the medicines used by the Greeks, Romans, and other cultures of antiquity. The work also records the Dacian , Thracian , Roman, ancient Egyptian and North African (Carthaginian) names for some plants, which otherwise would have been lost. The work presents about 600 plants in all, although the descriptions are sometimes obscurely phrased, leading to comments such as: "Numerous individuals from

736-460: Is unsafe. Aflatoxin contamination is a frequent risk, particularly in warmer and humid environments. Food contaminated with aflatoxins has been found as the cause of frequent outbreaks of acute illnesses in parts of the world. In some cases, such as in Kenya, this has led to several deaths. Pistachio shells typically split naturally prior to harvest, with a hull covering the intact seeds. The hull protects

782-598: Is very diverse. Primary venation is pinnate (rarely palmate). Secondary venation is eucamptodromous, brochidodromous, craspedodromous or cladodromous (rarely reticulodromous) Cladodromous venation, if present is considered diagnostic for Anacardiaceae. Flowers grow at the end of a branch or stem or at an angle from where the leaf joins the stem and have bracts . Often with this family, bisexual and male flowers occur on some plants, and bisexual and female flowers are on others, or flowers have both stamens and pistils (perfect). A calyx with three to seven cleft sepals and

828-609: The Shah of Iran began a school breakfast program that included packets of pistachios. This resulted in a decline of pistachio exports from Iran, resulting in increased prices in other countries and additional incentives to plant pistachio trees in California. The first commercial pistachio harvest in California took place in 1976. The Shah was forced into exile in January, 1979 during the Iranian Revolution , resulting in an end to trade between

874-643: The United States Department of Agriculture introduced hardier cultivars to California collected from China, but it was not promoted as a commercial crop until 1929. Walter T. Swingle's pistachios from Syria had already fruited well at Niles , California, by 1917. In 1969 and 1971, changes to the tax code in the United States eliminated tax shelters for almonds and citrus fruits . That encouraged California farmers to plant pistachio trees, because they were still eligible for such tax breaks. In 1972,

920-635: The cashew family or sumac family , are a family of flowering plants , including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of the Anacardiaceae bear fruits that are drupes and in some cases produce urushiol , an irritant . The Anacardiaceae include numerous genera, several of which are economically important, notably cashew (in the type genus Anacardium ), mango , Chinese lacquer tree , yellow mombin , Peruvian pepper , poison ivy , poison oak , sumac , smoke tree , marula and cuachalalate . The genus Pistacia (which includes

966-733: The pistachio and mastic tree ) is now included, but was previously placed in its own family, the Pistaciaceae. The cashew family is more abundant in warm or tropical regions with only a few species living in the temperate zones. Mostly native to tropical Americas , Africa and India. Pistacia and some species of Rhus can be found in southern Europe , Rhus species can be found in much of North America and Schinus inhabits South America exclusively. Trees or shrubs, each has inconspicuous flowers and resinous or milky sap that may be highly poisonous , as in black poisonwood and sometimes foul-smelling. Resin canals located in

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1012-406: The 19th century, suggesting that "the timelessness of Dioscorides' work resulted from an empirical tradition based on trial and error; that it worked for generation after generation despite social and cultural changes and changes in medical theory". The plant genus Dioscorea , which includes the yam , was named after him by Linnaeus . A butterfly, the bush hopper, Ampittia dioscorides which

1058-650: The Elder (in office in 35 AD), and into Hispania at the same time by Flaccus Pompeius . The early sixth-century manuscript De observatione ciborum ( On the Observance of Foods ) by Anthimus implies that pistacia remained well known in Europe in late antiquity . An article on pistachio tree cultivation was brought down in Ibn al-'Awwam 's 12th-century agricultural work, Book on Agriculture . Archaeologists have found evidence from excavations at Jarmo in northeastern Iraq for

1104-528: The Greek, refers to the nut, core or heart of the fruit, which is outwardly located: ana means "upward" and -cardium means "heart"). Dioscorides A native of Anazarbus , Cilicia , Asia Minor , Dioscorides likely studied medicine nearby at the school in Tarsus , which had a pharmacological emphasis, and he dedicated his medical books to Laecanius Arius, a medical practitioner there. Though he writes he lived

1150-583: The Middle Ages on have struggled with the identity of the recondite kinds", while some of the botanical identifications of Dioscorides' plants remain merely guesses. John Goodyer translated the work into English in 1655, and bequeathed it to Magdalen College, Oxford ; it was published by the Oxford University Press in 1934. De materia medica formed the core of the European pharmacopeia through

1196-448: The Pistaciaceae, based on the reduced flower structure, differences in pollen, and the feathery style of the flowers. The nature of its ovary, though, does suggest it belongs in the Anacardiaceae, a position supported by morphological and molecular studies, and recent classifications have included Pistacia in the Anacardiaceae. The genus Abrahamia was separated from Protorhus in 2004.(Pell 2004) The family has been treated as

1242-534: The U.S. and Iran control 70% of the world export market, with the U.S. in the lead. Worldwide demand exceeds production, so both countries have the ability to sell their production to various export markets. In 2021, Fresno County, California accounted for about 40% of U.S. pistachio production, with a value of $ 722 million. Pistachio trees are vulnerable to numerous diseases and infestation by insects such as Leptoglossus clypealis in North America. Among these

1288-480: The United States Food and Drug Administration approved the first qualified health claim specific to consumption of seeds (including pistachios) to lower the risk of heart disease : " Scientific evidence suggests but does not prove that eating 1.5 ounces (42.5 g) per day of most nuts, such as pistachios, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease". Although

1334-697: The United States and Iran, providing additional incentives for American farmers to plant dramatically more pistachio trees. By 2008, U.S. pistachio production rivaled that of Iran. Drought and unusually cold weather in Iran led to severe declines in production there, while U.S. production was increasing. At that time, pistachios were Iran's second-most important export product, after the oil and gas sector. By 2020, there were 150,000 pistachio farmers in Iran, approximately 70% of whom were small-scale producers using inefficient manual picking and processing techniques. There were 950 far larger U.S. producers, using highly efficient mechanized production techniques. Between them,

1380-597: The consumption of Atlantic pistachio. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were said to have contained pistachio trees during the reign of King Marduk-apla-iddina II about 700 BCE. In the 19th century, the pistachio was cultivated commercially in parts of the English-speaking world, such as Australia and in the US in New Mexico and California, where it was introduced in 1854 as a garden tree. In 1904 and 1905, David Fairchild of

1426-592: The early modern period, Dioscorides' text eclipsed the Hippocratic corpus . In the medieval period, De materia medica was circulated in Greek, as well as Latin and Arabic translation. While being reproduced in manuscript form through the centuries, it was often supplemented with commentary and minor additions from Arabic and Indian sources. Ibn al-Baitar 's commentary on Dioscorides' De materia medica , entitled Tafsīr Kitāb Diāsqūrīdūs : تفسير كتاب دياسقوريدوس , has been used by scholars to identify many of

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1472-981: The family Anacardiaceae (which includes poison ivy , sumac , mango , and cashew ), pistachios contain urushiol , an irritant that can cause allergic reactions . Large quantities of pistachios are self-heating in the presence of moisture due to their high oil content in addition to naturally occurring lipases , and can spontaneously combust if stored with a combustible fabric such as jute . The kernels are often eaten whole, either fresh or roasted and salted , and are also used in pistachio ice cream , traditional Persian ice cream , kulfi , spumoni , pistachio butter, pistachio paste, and confections such as baklava , pistachio chocolate, pistachio halva , pistachio lokum or biscotti , and cold cuts such as mortadella . Americans make pistachio salad , which includes fresh pistachios or pistachio pudding, whipped cream, and canned fruit. Indian cooking uses pounded pistachios with grilled meats, and in pulao rice dishes. The shell of

1518-461: The flora mentioned by Dioscorides. A number of illustrated manuscripts of De materia medica survive. The most famous of these is the lavishly illustrated Vienna Dioscurides , produced in Constantinople in 512/513 AD. Densely illustrated Arabic copies survive from the 12th and 13th centuries, while Greek manuscripts survive today in the monasteries of Mount Athos . De materia medica

1564-690: The frequent occurrence of simple small holes in the vessels, occasionally in some species side by side with scalariform holes (in Campnosperma , Micronychia , and Heeria argentea ( Anaphrenium argenteum ). The simple pits are located along the vessel wall and in contact with the parenchyma . Leaves are deciduous or evergreen , usually alternate (rarely opposite), estipulate (without stipule ) and imparipinnate (rarely paripinnate or bipinnate), usually with opposite leaflets (rarely alternate), while others are trifoliolate or simple or unifoliolate (very rarely simple leaves are palmate). Leaf architecture

1610-654: The group, and filled it with the genera Anacardium , Semecarpus , Holigarna , Mangifera , Buchanania , Pistacia , Astronium , Comocladia , and Picramnia . John Lindley described the "essential character" of the Anacardiaceæ, the "Cashew Tribe" in 1831, adopting the order that was described by de Jussieu, but abandoning the name Terebintaceæ. He includes the genera that were found in de Candolle's Anacardieæ and Sumachineæ: Anacardium , Holigarna , Mangifera , Rhus , and Mauria . The genus Pistacia has sometimes been separated into its own family,

1656-452: The harvest easier. One male tree produces enough pollen for 8 to 12 drupe-bearing females. Harvesting in the United States and in Greece is often accomplished using equipment to shake the drupes off the tree. After hulling and drying, pistachios are sorted according to open-mouth and closed-mouth shells, then roasted or processed by special machines to produce pistachio kernels. The pistachio tree

1702-412: The inner fibrous bark of the fibrovascular system found in the plant's stems, roots, and leaves are characteristic of all members of this family; resin canals located in the pith are characteristic of many of the cashew family species and several species have them located in the primary cortex or the regular bark. Tannin sacs are also widespread among the family. The wood of the Anacardiaceae has

1748-593: The kernel from invasion by molds and insects, but this hull protection can be damaged in the orchard by poor orchard management practices, by birds, or after harvest, which makes exposure to contamination much easier. Some pistachios undergo so-called "early split", wherein both the hull and the shell split. Damage or early splits can lead to aflatoxin contamination. In some cases, a harvest may be treated to keep contamination below strict food safety thresholds; in other cases, an entire batch of pistachios must be destroyed because of aflatoxin contamination. Like other members of

1794-490: The pistachio is naturally a beige color, but it may be dyed red or green in commercial pistachios. Originally, dye was applied to hide stains on the shells caused when the nuts were picked by hand. In the 21st century, most pistachios are harvested by machine and the shells remain unstained. Raw pistachios are 4% water, 45% fat, 28% carbohydrates , and 20% protein (table). In a 100-gram reference amount, pistachios provide 2,351 kilojoules (562 kcal) of food energy and are

1840-413: The pistillate flowers, ovaries are single or sometimes quadri- or quinticelled. One to three styles and one ovule occur in each cavity. Fruits rarely open at maturity and are most often drupes . Seed coats are very thin or are crust-like. Little or no endosperm is present. Cotyledons are fleshy. Seeds are solitary with no albumen around the embryo . In 1759, Bernard de Jussieu arranged

1886-566: The plants in the royal garden of the Trianon at Versailles, according to his own scheme. That classification included a description of an order called the Terebintaceæ, which contained a suborder that included Cassuvium ( Anacardium ), Anacardium ( Semecarpus ), Mangifera , Connarus , Rhus , and Rourea . In 1789, Antoine Laurent de Jussieu , nephew of Bernard de Jussieu, published that classification scheme. Robert Brown described

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1932-436: The same number of petals, occasionally no petals, overlap each other in the bud. Stamens are twice as many or equal to the number of petals, inserted at the base of the fleshy ring or cup-shaped disk, and inserted below the pistil(s). Stamen stalks are separate, and anthers are able to move. Flowers have the ovary free, but the petals and stamen are borne on the calyx. In the stamenate flowers, ovaries are single-celled. In

1978-476: The single tribe Spondiadeae as Spondiadoideae. 79 genera are accepted: Members of this family produce cashew and pistachio nuts, and mango and marula fruits. Some members produce a viscous or adhesive fluid which turns black and is used as a varnish or for tanning and even as a mordant for red dyes. The sap of Toxicodendron vernicifluum is used to make lacquer for lacquerware and similar products. The name Anacardium , originally from

2024-447: The soil is not sufficiently free-draining. Long, hot summers are required for proper ripening of the fruit. The pistachio tree may live up to 300 years. The trees are planted in orchards , and take around 7 to 10 years to reach significant production. Production is alternate-bearing or biennial -bearing, meaning the harvest is heavier in alternate years. Peak production is reached around 20 years. Trees are usually pruned to size to make

2070-429: Was one million tonnes , with the United States, Iran, and Turkey combined accounting for 88% of the total. The tree grows up to 10 metres (33 feet) tall. It has deciduous , pinnate leaves 10–20 centimetres (4–8 inches) long. The plants are dioecious , with separate male and female trees. The flowers are apetalous and unisexual and borne in panicles . The fruit is a drupe , containing an elongated seed , which

2116-768: Was one million tonnes (2.2 billion pounds), with the United States, Iran, and Turkey together accounting for 88% of the total (table). Italy produces a low quantity of pistachios, with the Pistacchio di Bronte (pistachios from Bronte town) DOP-protected . As with other tree seeds, aflatoxin is found in poorly harvested or processed pistachios. Aflatoxins are potent carcinogenic chemicals produced by molds such as Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus . The mold contamination may occur from soil or poor storage, and be spread by pests. High levels of mold growth typically appear as gray to black filament-like growth. Eating mold-infected and aflatoxin-contaminated pistachios

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