Aesculus hippocastanum Horse chestnut (Hippocastanaceae) Deciduous tree

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Aesculus hippocastanum
Horse chestnut
Deciduous tree
(1 Page of 5)

The Aesculus hippocastanum plant species is found in Europe - N. Greece and Albania. Naturalized in Britain[17]. It is a member of the Hippocastanaceae family. Common gardeners may know the plant as Horse chestnut.

Cultivation | Propagation | General Uses
Medicinal | Edible Uses

Latin Name:  Aesculus hippocastanum
Common Name:  Horse chestnut
Family:  Hippocastanaceae
Author:  L.

Known Hazards:  The seed is rich in saponins[10, 21, 65]. Although poisonous, saponins are poorly absorbed by the human body and so most pass through without harm. Saponins are quite bitter and can be found in many common foods such as some beans. They can be removed by carefully leaching the seed or flour in running water. Thorough cooking, and perhaps changing the cooking water once, will also normally remove most of them. However, it is not advisible to eat large quantities of food that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish[K].

Mature Height:  30   Mature Width:  15

Habitat:  Mountain woods[50].

Edible Uses: The roasted seed is used as a coffee substitute[2, 7]. Seed - cooked. It can be dried, ground into a powder and used as a gruel[7, 46, 55, 61]. The seed is quite large, about 3cm in diameter, and is easily harvested. It is usually produced in abundance in Britain. Unfortunately the seed is also rich in saponins, these must be removed before it can be used as a food and this process also removes many of the minerals and vitamins, leaving behind mainly starch. See also the notes above on toxicity. The seed contains up to 40% water, 8 - 11% protein and 8 - 26% toxic saponins[218]. The following notes apply to A. californica, but are probably also relevant here:- The seed needs to be leached of toxins before it becomes safe to eat - the Indians would do this by slow-roasting the nuts (which would have rendered the saponins harmless) and then cutting them into thin slices, putting them into a cloth bag and rinsing them in a stream for 2 - 5 days[213].

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Cultivation | Propagation | General Uses
Medicinal | Edible Uses

The information above has been supplied solely via the hard work and dedication of the team at 'Plants for a Future'.
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