Hazelnuts are a highly valuable agricultural product of significant economic importance, every part of which, including the kernel, oil, shell, leaf and husk, can be used in a wide variety of fields.
Around 80% is used in the chocolate industry (in chopped, sliced or ground form) and in the production of biscuits, confectionery, desserts, cakes and ice cream. Hazelnuts that cannot be marketed domestically or exported are used for oil. They are also consumed as snacks. Uses of Crude Hazelnut Oil;
Refined and used as cooking oil; as a cleanser, moisturizer and dispersant; in the production of grease; as a drying agent in the protective coatings industry; as a catalyst in chemical reactions; as an auxiliary raw material in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries; in the disinfection of hands and rubber gloves, in the sterilization of medical instruments, in the dressing of wounds, and as an antiseptic in gynecological and obstetric conditions and in skin and oral diseases; in industry as a surfactant, corrosion inhibitor, lubricant, in metal cutting oils, metal cleaning and in the production of asphalt plates. In addition, the cake remaining after oil extraction has a high protein content (38-45%) and is used as animal feed in the feed industry.
Hazelnut shells are used as a valuable, high-calorie fuel in hazelnut-growing regions. Hazelnut shells are used to make fiberboard, are utilized in the paint industry, and, through carbonization, yield briquette charcoal, activated carbon and industrial charcoal.
Hazelnut leaves and fruit husks (involucres) return to hazelnut orchards and agricultural land as natural fertilizer.
