Are raw pistachios an ideal nut?

Fairy Prince · Post by **Fairy Prince** » Wed 20 Dec 2006 09:15

Do pistachios have many enzyme inhibitors in them? I would assume so because they are similar to almonds

Post by **Oscar** » Wed 20 Dec 2006 11:17

I think that storebought pistachios are always roasted anyway.

YouTube · Post by **RRM** » Wed 20 Dec 2006 15:55

As far as I know, raw pistachios are quite unedible. Thats why you cant buy them.

van · Post by **van** » Wed 20 Dec 2006 21:29

I've had raw pistachios. And yes they are edible, but not as 'tasty' as roasted. The reason they don't sell them raw in the stores, at least here in California where they are grown, is because they go moldy so quickly if not roasted or dehydrated majorly. Van

spring · Post by **spring** » Thu 04 Jan 2007 16:28

RRM wrote:As far as I know, raw pistachios are quite unedible. Thats why you cant buy them.

I've had raw pistachios - they are green and reddish pink. They're soft-shelled. The shells are easily peeled off.

And so delicious. Much better than the roasted ones. I ate tons when I was in an area where they sold them.

No troubles after eating them.

I am sure they hadn't been heated in any way. Would there be any problem with eating these as the main raw nut food instead of Brazil nuts?

YouTube · Post by **RRM** » Fri 05 Jan 2007 21:09

ah, ok...
Im still not completely convinced they are raw, though, as pistachio's are mostly roasted and salted without shelling. The ones that are sold as raw; are they really?
Anyone found some info about eating raw pistachio's?
If they are really raw, and if they are perfectly edible, and have no bitter taste whatsoever, I guess you can perfectly take them instead of Brazil nuts. (but not regarding protein quality)

spring · Post by **spring** » Sat 06 Jan 2007 07:36

If you go to Middle Eastern markets, you can see them being sold occasionally. They are not salted and the shells are soft because they haven't been roasted. No bitter taste at all - even slightly sweet - I prefer them to the roasted kind.

YouTube · Post by **RRM** » Sun 07 Jan 2007 21:03

hmmm, I still couldnt find any info...

avalon · Post by **avalon** » Mon 08 Jan 2007 01:15

Here's a good page on several raw nut impressions:

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/nuts.html

4.9 Pistachios Pistachios are hulled and dried within 24 hours of harvest. Rosengarten reports that the nuts are dried using heated air, at 150-160 degrees F.

Remarks: my own limited experiments with pistachios indicates that they are not sproutable (at least the U.S. grown nuts I tried were not sproutable). The nuts I tried to sprout turned mushy/slimy. The pistachio has a thick skin, which absorbs much water. If you can somehow obtain sun-dried pistachios, and you peel the nuts to remove the thick skin, they might sprout for you.

Recommendations: drying temps of 150-160 deg F might be high enough to devitalize the nut: viability is questionable.

Raw Pistachios:

http://www.schaadfamilyalmonds.com/inde ... w_category

Dehydrated:

http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com ... Code=NUTPS

Organic:

http://www.organicpistachios.com/
(here you can getn them in or out of shell)

avalon · Post by **avalon** » Mon 08 Jan 2007 01:19

Here, they soak then dry the nuts to neutralize the inhibitors:

http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com ... rganic.htm

Our nuts and seeds are soaked first, which stimulates the process of germination, increases the vitamin C content, and increases the Vitamin B content and carotenes (pre-vitamin A). Most importantly, this soaking neutralizes phytic acid, a substance present in the bran of all grains and seeds that inhibits absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc. Soaking also neutralizes enzyme inhibitors present in all seeds. These inhibitors can neutralize our own precious enzymes in the digestive tract.

Best wishes,
Avalon

spring · Post by **spring** » Mon 08 Jan 2007 13:47

avalon wrote:Here's a good page on several raw nut impressions:

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/nuts.html

4.9 Pistachios Pistachios are hulled and dried within 24 hours of harvest. Rosengarten reports that the nuts are dried using heated air, at 150-160 degrees F.

The ones I had weren't dried, I don't think. They didn't have the wrinkled look and they were still in their shells mostly. The shells were soft, not dried and wrinkly. When you opened it up, the nut was green mostly and soft and slightly moist, not dried out at all. It had a red strip on one side. They looked like they gathered them and shipped them as is and sold them.

I'm pretty sure they were raw.