Country of origin: Central Asia (northeastern Iran, northern Afghanistan, southeastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, western Kyrgyzstan), eastern coastal region of the Mediterranean (Turkey, Syria, Palestine)
Description
It is a deciduous shrub with height of 6–10 m. Dioecious. It has an odd number of feather-like compound leaves (3-5 leaflets). Flowers bloom before the leaves develop. In the Arid Land Research Center, it blooms from early to late April. Is xerotolerant and can be cultivated in areas with annual rainfall of 400–750 mm. It has strong cold tolerance, frost tolerance, heat tolerance, and wind tolerance. It can also be cultivated in weak acidic soil, alkaline soil, and saline soil. It has poor shade tolerance and moisture tolerance. The age is approximately 700 years. Propagation is performed by seeding or grafting. In its natural habitat, it is cultivated a ratio of 6 to 10 female plants per male plant.
The seeds are rich in proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates (i.e., glucose, galactose, mannose), dietary fiber, vitamins (i.e., A, B1, B6, Es), calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium, copper, unsaturated fatty acids (i.e., oleic acid, linolenic acid), and ubiquinone (coenzyme Q10). The seeds contain 55% oil, approximately 80% of which is oleic acid and linoleic acid. Amino acid content accounts for 25% of the seeds, and essential amino acids are also contained in the seeds. It also includes polyphenols, plant sterols, plant stanols, etc.
References
AL-Saghir, M. G. and Porter, D.M. 2012. Taxonomic revision of the Genus
Pistacia L. (Anacardiaceae). American Journal of Plant Science 3: 12-32.
Lim, T.K. 2012. Pistacia vera. In: Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants. Volume 1, Fruits. Springer,
Netherlands, pp.142-152.
Wickens, G.E. 1995. Edible nuts. Non-wood forest products 5. Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations. Rome, Italy. (http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/v8929e/v8929e.pdf)
岩佐俊吉．1994．ピスタキア属．塚本洋太郎（監修）．園芸植物大事典 2．pp. 1906-1907. 小学館、東京．
