Husk

In the United States, the term husk often refers to the leafy outer covering of an ear of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant.

Literally, a husk or hull includes the protective outer covering of a seed, fruit, or vegetable.

[1] In cooking, hull can also refer to other waste parts of fruits and vegetables, notably the cap or sepal of a strawberry.

The seed of a grain (which the grain industry calls a "kernel") is made up of three key edible parts – the bran, the germ, and the endosperm – which are all protected by an inedible husk that protects the kernel from damage by sunlight, pests, water and disease.

[4] In some places, both shells and the husks of walnuts (Juglans regia L.) which are produced as waste crops during the fruit harvesting and processing,[5] are sometimes burned as fuel for heating purposes.

[6] In 2019, it has been demonstrated that the walnut green husk could be valued as a source of different natural bio-active compounds with excellent antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.

[9] An organic compound Naphthalenone, (derivative of Naphthalene) is found in green walnut husks of Juglans mandshurica Maxim.

[17] In Thailand, the coconut husk is used as a potting medium to produce healthy forest tree saplings.

[citation needed][19] In third-world countries, husking and dehulling is still often done by hand using a large mortar and pestle.

Husk of Corylus colurna (Turkish Hazel) , containing 7 nuts
Corn being husked in the yard of a Dungan farmer in Kyrgyzstan
A woman manually dehusking corn in Malawi . People working in subsistence agricultural settings tend not to have the mechanization of processing practices to reduce the labor. In many societies, this labor falls to family members such as women, who make up the majority of farmers working in smallholdings.