Damascus, (SANA) - Chestnut tree is a prolific bearer of nuts usually with three nuts enclosed in each spiny green burr, and lined in tan velvet.

 Syria has been planting chestnut trees since 1970s due to their nuts' nutritional value and the role they play in protecting soil against water erosion.

Nowadays 1,100000 chestnut trees grow over an area of 1320 hectares spreading all over the Syrian governorates.

Chestnut trees are mainly planted in Dahr al-Qusair in Homs governorate, central Syria, where they spread over an area of 575 hectares and there are 550,000 trees in the region.

The number of chestnut trees at al-Nabi Mata Mountain in Tartous has reached 375,000 trees growing over an area of 450 hectares while 25,000 trees grow in Barshin region in Hama Governorate, central Syria, over an area of 25 hectares.

50,000 chestnut trees grow in Kasab region northern Lattakia governorate over an area of 200 hectares. During the last few years, the Syrian people have become more interested in forest trees, one of them chestnuts, due to the increasing awareness of their importance.

Chestnut fruits had been the main food for the Roman and Greek nations over the last few centuries before discovering potato.

Famous Arab doctor and botanist Ebin al-Bitar said that chestnut fruits are useful for treating many diseases and an integrated food for children.

Chestnuts helped treat kidney disease in the past because they stimulate the excretion of excess sodium by kidneys.

Many industries use chestnuts because they contain a lot of important chemical elements and 8 amino acids necessary for human body.

 Fire-resistant chestnut tree is a deciduous tree of the beech family. There are ten species of chestnut trees spreading over Asia, the Mediterranean basin, Japan and America.

The tree provides an integrated forest system and it is one of the renewable resources of food and wood in the 21st century.

Ruaa al-Jazaeri/ Kh.Aridi