As of 2006, food manufacturers are required to list trans fat on the nutrition label. Because oils are not used during roasting, pistachios are naturally trans fat-free.

Pistachios have more potassium than any other nut. Did you know a serving of pistachios has more potassium than half of a large banana? That's pretty powerful.

Pistachios are a good source of fiber providing 3 grams per serving, that’s more than many types of whole fruit.

Pistachios are one of the oldest flowering nut trees, and are one of the only two nuts mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 43:11). Humans have eaten pistachio nuts for at least 9,000 years.

According to legend, pistachios were featured in the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon, built about 700 B.C. by King Nebuchadnezzar for his wife Amytis.

Perhaps a true royal nut, the Queen of Sheba loved pistachios. In fact, she demanded that the entire region’s pistachio harvest be set aside for her.

The word pistachio as we know it today has its origins in the Mediterranean: from the Latin pistacium and the Greek pistakion.

In America, pistachios were once dyed red to disguise shell imperfections and make the nuts stand out in vending machines.

A dish widely credited for helping put pistachios on the American menu was pistachio ice cream, an invention credited to Philadelphia’s James W. Parkinson in the 1940's.

Pistachios grow in heavy grape-like clusters surrounded by a fleshy hull. When they ripen in late summer or early autumn, the pistachio kernel fills inside the shell so vigorously that it splits the shell.

Pistachio trees are wind-pollinated, with one male tree producing enough pollen for 25 nut-bearing females. Female trees produce their first nuts at about age five and can bear fruit for up to 200 years.