The Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima Blume) and other Castanea species (Castanea spp. Mill.) have been imported and circulated among growers and scientists in the United States for more than a century. Initially, importations of C. mollissima after 1914 were motivated by efforts to restore the American chestnut [Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.], with interests in timber-type characters and chestnut blight resistance. Chestnut for orchard nut production spun off from these early works. Starting in the early 20th century, open-pollinated seeds from seedlings of Chinese chestnut and other Castanea species were distributed widely to interested growers throughout much of the eastern United States to plant and evaluate. Germplasm curation and sharing increased quite robustly through grower networks over the 20th century and continues today. More than 100 cultivars have been named in the United States, although a smaller subset remains relevant for commercial production and breeding. The University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry curates and maintains a repository of more than 60 cultivars, and open-pollinated seed from this collection has been provided to growers since 2008. Currently, more than 1000 farms cultivate seedlings or grafted trees of the cultivars in this collection, and interest in participatory on-farm research is high. Here, we report descriptions of 57 of the collection’s cultivars as a comprehensive, readily accessible resource to support continued participatory research.

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Chestnut cultivation for nut production is increasing in the eastern half of the United States. Chinese chestnuts (Castanea mollissima Blume), or Chinese hybrids with European (C. sativa Mill.) and Japanese chestnuts (C. crenata Sieb. & Zucc.), are cultivated due to their high kernel quality, climatic adaptation, and disease resistance. Several hundred thousand pounds of high-quality fresh nuts are taken to market every fall, and several hundred additional orchards are entering bearing years. Grower-led on-farm improvement has largely facilitated this growth. A lack of significant investments in chestnut breeding in the region, paired with issues of graft incompatibility, has led many growers to cultivate seedlings of cultivars rather than grafted cultivars. After decades of evaluation, selection, and sharing of plant materials, growers have reached a threshold of improvement where commercial seedling orchards can be reliably established by planting offspring from elite selected parents. Growers recognize that if cooperation persists and university expertise and resources are enlisted, improvement can continue and accelerate. To this end, the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry (UMCA) and chestnut growers throughout the eastern United States are partnering to formalize a participatory breeding program – the Chestnut Improvement Network. This partnership entails the UMCA providing an organizational structure and leadership to coordinate on-farm improvement, implement strategic crossing schemes, and integrate genetic tools. Chestnut growers offer structural capacity by cultivating seedling production orchards that provide financial support for the grower but also house segregating populations with improved individuals, in situ repositories, and selection trials, creating great value for the industry.

U.S. chestnut (Castanea sp.) production is expanding as knowledge of seedling cultivation and germplasm advances. Chestnuts have high starch and water content, making them highly perishable; therefore, they require cold storage immediately following harvest. Postharvest spoilage remains a significant area for improvement. Several postharvest fungi (including Fusarium sp. and Penicillium sp.) can infect chestnuts during storage, leading to spoilage and nonsellable nuts. The annual crop losses can reach up to 10%, thereby affecting trees differently. Our research objectives were to 1) evaluate spoilage incidence on the interior (i.e., pellicle, kernel) and exterior (i.e., nutshell) of the nut over the course of 200 days of cold storage on eight cultivars and 2) assess the impact of food contact-approved chlorine solution and 2% peracetic acid (PAA) with 27% hydrogen peroxide prestorage treatments for spoilage suppression on ‘Qing’ nuts. Fourteen timepoints were observed during the study period, each with four replications of 16 nuts. An additional four replicates of 16 ‘Qing’ nuts were treated prestorage and observed over seven time points. The incidence of spoilage was reported as the percentage of nonsellable nuts for each treatment and cultivar at four timepoints. The nut interior showed the highest spoilage incidence after 200 days, with four cultivars having >30% nonsellable nuts. Overall, the cultivars had an average of 10% nonsellable nuts from interior spoilage after 60 days in storage. ‘Hong Kong’ had the highest percentage of nonsellable nuts by the end of the study at 60%, whereas ‘Qing’ and ‘Mossbarger’ had the lowest rates, with only 14% nonsellable nuts. Spoilage of the exterior, although less frequent, is visible to buyers and impacts nut marketability. ‘Kohr’ had the highest percentage of nonsellable nuts because of exterior spoilage (35.9%). ‘Mossbarger’ had the lowest percentage of nonsellable nuts because of exterior spoilage (3.1%). ‘Qing’ nuts treated with 500 ppm chlorine and 100/200 ppm PAA demonstrated reduced exterior spoilage with longer storage times. Prestorage treatment did not show efficacy for reducing interior spoilage. This study provides a preliminary report of evidence that cultivar differences influence the spoilage incidence and supports taking nuts to market within 60 days of harvesting. These preliminary data also inform breeding parent combinations and studies of inheritance for postharvest spoilage tolerance at the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry breeding program.

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