” Frequent is the confusion of the horse chestnuts, which grow and fall from the chestnut, with the chestnut woods that are harvested from the chestnut. “, Warns the National Agency for Health Security (Anses).
In fact, the two products look alike. But if chestnuts are edible, horse chestnuts are toxic and can cause digestive disorders such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting or throat irritation …
In the woods, not in the city
So how to tell the difference? It all starts with the taking of the places. Chestnuts are harvested in the woods, woods or orchards. Instead in cities, parks or public gardens, they are horse chestnuts!
You can also observe the insect, the capsule that encloses the fruit. The chestnut one is brown, bristling with many long spines, and contains from 2 to 3 chestnuts at a time, rather small, flattened and triangular. That of the horse chestnuts, on the other hand, is green, thick, with small, spaced and short peaks, and generally contains only one chestnut, large and rounded.
