How and where do macadamia nuts grow?
Although they appeared on the shelves of our stores some time ago, drawing attention with their visual similarity to popular hazelnuts in Poland, it still remains a mystery to many people how macadamia nuts grow, how they taste, and how they end up in our homes. Today we will tell you more about the origin of macadamia nuts, so that the questions "how and where do they grow?" will no longer be unsolvable mysteries for anyone.
Table of Contents:
Macadamia nuts – basic information
Macadamia nuts – how do they grow?
Macadamia nuts – basic information
Before we move on to the topic of the origin of macadamia nuts, it is worth getting to know these fruits, which are still exotic to us, a little more closely. After all, where macadamia nuts grow and how exactly this process takes place is just as important as information about their taste or nutritional values.
We also have a few fun facts – for example, that September 4 is National Macadamia Nut Day (English: National Macadamia Nut Day) or that under no circumstances should macadamia nuts be given to dogs, as they are toxic to them and can cause weakness and mobility problems.
But for humans, the fruits of the macadamia tree are a real blessing! They provide vitamins, fiber, magnesium, calcium, and other valuable nutrients and minerals, which means they can have a beneficial effect on reducing blood cholesterol levels, controlling body weight, and delaying aging processes.
They are healthy, tasty, and – currently – very easily available. That is exactly why we love macadamia nuts so much.
Macadamia nuts – origin
Where do macadamia nuts come from? From macadamia trees belonging to the order of Proteaceae. Their discovery is attributed to the director of the botanical gardens in Brisbane (Australia), Walter Hill, who did so in 1857.
A quarter of a century later, thanks to the English investor and plant breeder, William Herbert Purvis, macadamia seeds reached Hawaii, giving rise to the development of tree cultivation in this part of the world. To this day, it is mainly Hawaii that is associated with the origin of macadamia nuts in the United States.
And where did they get their name? Behind the history of the name of popular macadamia nuts lies… a story of friendship. We owe its naming to the previously mentioned Walter Hill and the German botanist, known as the "father of Australian botany", Ferdinand von Mueller. Wanting to honor their prematurely deceased friend, John Macadam, the men named the newly discovered tree in his honor.
Who was John Macadam, who was honored in such a unique way? A Scottish-Australian chemist, scientist, lecturer, and politician. He died at sea in September 1865, at the age of only 38.
Where do macadamia nuts grow?
Although macadamia trees originate from Australia (where they still grow wild) and gained great popularity in Hawaii, today their nuts are also grown in other regions of the world, including South Africa, New Caledonia, and the Indonesian island of Celebes (now Sulawesi).
The high prices of macadamia tree fruits and the increased demand for these healthy and tasty nuts favor their growing popularity among growers worldwide. That is why we find more and more macadamia plantations in China, Guatemala, Vietnam, and Malawi.
When buying macadamia nuts in Poland (where, by the way, large-scale cultivation would be impossible), it is worth paying attention to the origin of the fruits and their price. It varies from around PLN 90 per kilogram of nuts from Vietnam to around PLN 170 – for fruits imported from the Republic of South Africa.
Macadamia nuts – how do they grow?
You already know in which corners of the world you will find macadamia tree plantations, but another interesting fact is how macadamia nuts grow at all. Are they harvested directly from the tree? What do they look like before they reach consumers? Or: what is so special about their shell? You can find out right now!
Macadamia trees are evergreen and perennial, can reach a height of up to 20 meters, and require special soil and climatic conditions for cultivation. Currently, we know nine species of macadamia trees, but only a few of them are used for commercial cultivation (due to the edibility of their fruits).
What sets macadamia nuts apart from others is their shell. So hard that it is even harder than a coconut shell! That is why in stores we mainly buy shelled macadamia nuts, as peeling them requires appropriate equipment.
However, before the nuts are harvested, the trees must grow and flower, which can take up to ten years. The harvests themselves take place rarely – only a few times a year – and consist mainly of shaking the trees and collecting the fallen nuts.
The complexity of this process and the fact of how long a journey ready-to-eat macadamia nuts must travel before reaching the shelves of European stores is one of the factors justifying their high price.
However, since we do not eat nuts by the kilogram every day, small quantities (e.g., packaged in hundreds of grams) will not be so noticeable in our daily budget, and the health benefits they can provide us are a value that cannot be overestimated.
That is why let's eat nuts – both those from geographically close regions and delicious macadamia nuts growing in exotic corners of the world.
Sources:
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Jaffré T. et al., Macadamia neurophylla, [in:] The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species [accessed 13.02.2021].
The European market potential for macadamia nuts, [in:] CBI. Ministry of Foreign Affairs [accessed: 19.09.2022].
So you want to grow your own macadamia tree? Here are 6 things you should consider, [in:] Australian Macadamias [accessed: 19.09.2022].
Kulik K., Waszkiewicz-Robak B.: Edible nuts as a source of bioactive ingredients, [in:] Karwowska M., Gustaw W. (eds.): Trends in human nutrition, 2015, Kraków, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PTTŻ.
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Ciemniewska-Żytkiewicz H., Krygier K., Bryś J.: Nutritional value of nuts and their importance in the diet, [in:] Advances in Food Processing Technology, issue 1/2014, 90-96.