Pine nut#Culinary uses

File:StonePine.jpg – note two nuts under each cone scale|alt=Stone pine cone with nuts – note two nuts under each cone scale]]

In Asia, two species, in particular, are widely harvested: Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) in northeast Asia (the most important species in international trade) and chilgoza pine (P. gerardiana) in the western Himalaya. Four other species, Siberian pine (P. sibirica), Siberian dwarf pine (P. pumila), Chinese white pine (P. armandii) and lacebark pine (P. bungeana), are also used to a lesser extent. Russia is the largest producer of P. sibirica nuts in the world,{{cite news |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/30256275.html |title=Pine Nut Fever Breaks Out In Russia's Altai Mountains |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=November 12, 2019 |access-date=2023-01-03}} followed by either Mongolia or Afghanistan. They each produce over {{convert|10,000|MT}} annually, most of it exported to China.{{cite news |url=https://bakhtarnews.af/en/pine-nuts-export-hike-increase-in-world-market/ |title=Pine Nuts Export Hike Increase in World Market |work=Bakhtar News Agency |date=November 6, 2022 |access-date=2023-01-03}}{{cite news |url=https://tolonews.com/business-181466 |title=Afghanistan Exports At Least 5,000 Tons of Pine Nuts |work=TOLOnews |date=4 January 2023 |access-date=2023-01-04}}{{cite news |url=https://pajhwok.com/2023/01/03/china-largest-importer-of-afghan-pine-nuts-moci/ |title=China largest importer of Afghan pine nuts: MoCI |work=Pajhwok Afghan News |date=3 January 2023 |access-date=2023-01-03}}

Pine nuts produced in Europe mostly come from the stone pine (P. pinea), which has been cultivated for its nuts for over 5,000 years. Pine nuts have been harvested from wild trees for far longer. The Swiss pine (P. cembra) is also used, to a very small extent.

In North America, the main species are three of the pinyon pines: Colorado pinyon (P. edulis), single-leaf pinyon (P. monophylla), and Mexican pinyon (P. cembroides). The other eight pinyon species are used to a small extent, as is gray pine (P. sabineana), Coulter pine (P. coulteri), Torrey pine (P. torreyana), sugar pine (P. lambertiana) and Parry pinyon (P. quadrifolia). Here, the nuts themselves are known by the Spanish name for the pinyon pine, piñón (plural: piñones).

In the United States, pine nuts are mainly harvested by Native American and Hispano communities, particularly in the Western United States and Southwestern United States, by the Shoshone, Paiute, Navajo, Pueblo, Hopi, Washoe, and Hispanos of New Mexico.{{cite web|url= http://www.pinenut.com/history.htm|title= History of Pine Nuts & The People of the Great Basin|website= Goods from the Woods|date= 2004|access-date= 8 December 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110717080624/http://www.pinenut.com/history.htm|archive-date= 17 July 2011|url-status= dead}} Certain treaties negotiated by tribes and laws in Nevada guarantee Native Americans' right to harvest pine nuts,{{cite news|author= Frazier, Penny|url= http://www.rawfoodsnewsmagazine.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=88&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061030193320/http://www.rawfoodsnewsmagazine.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=88&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0|url-status= dead|archive-date= 30 October 2006| title=Pine Nuts, Politics and Public Lands| work=Raw Foods News Magazine|access-date=8 December 2009 |date=30 October 2006 }} and the state of New Mexico protects the use of the word piñon for use with pine nuts from certain species of indigenous New Mexican pines.{{cite act |title=Piñon Nut Act |number=25, Article 10, Sections 1 through 5 |date=1978 |type=New Mexico Statutes |url=http://www.nmda.nmsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/pinonnutact.pdf |access-date=25 June 2018 }} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104050202/https://www.nmda.nmsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/pinonnutact.pdf |date=4 November 2021 }}

{{multiple image

| image1 = Pine nuts in various stages.jpg

| caption1 = Stone pine (Pinus pinea) nuts

| alt1 = Stone pine (Pinus pinea) nuts

| image2 = KoreanPineSeeds.jpg

| caption2 = Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) nuts – unshelled, and shell, above; shelled, below

| alt2 = Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) nuts – unshelled, and shell, above; shelled, below

}}

Commonly used species include:

• Old World
• Pinus armandii – Chinese white pine
• Pinus bungeana – lacebark pine
• Pinus cembra – Swiss pine
• Pinus gerardiana – Chilgoza pine
• Pinus koraiensis – Korean pine
• Pinus pinea – Mediterranean stone pine
• Pinus pumila – Siberian dwarf pine
• Pinus sibirica – Siberian pine
• New World
• pinyon pine group – in southwestern North America
• Pinus albicaulis – Whitebark pine
• Pinus cembroides – Mexican pinyon
• Pinus coulteri – Coulter pine
• Pinus culminicola – Potosi pinyon
• Pinus edulis – Two-needle piñon or Colorado pinyon (when grown in Colorado)
• Pinus johannis – Johann's pinyon (includes P. discolor – Border pinyon)
• Pinus monophylla – Single-leaf pinyon
• Pinus orizabensis – Orizaba pinyon
• Pinus quadrifolia – Four-leaved pinyon or Parry pinyon
• Pinus remota – Papershell pinyon or Texas pinyon
• Pinus sabiniana – California foothill pine

Pine nuts will not reach full maturity unless the environmental conditions are favorable for the tree and the cone. The time to maturity varies depending on the species.

For some American species, development begins in early spring with pollination. A tiny cone, about the size of a small marble, will form from mid-spring through the end of summer; this immature cone will temporarily cease growing and remain dormant until the following spring, then grow again until it reaches maturity near the end of its second summer. The mature piñon pine cone is ready to harvest ten days before the green cone begins to open. A cone is harvested by placing it in a burlap bag and exposing it to a heat source such as the sun to begin drying. It takes about 20 days until the cone fully opens. Once it is fully open and dry, the seed can be easily extracted in various ways. The most common and practical extraction method used is the repeated striking of the burlap bag containing the cone(s) against a rough surface to cause the cone(s) to shatter, leaving just the job of separating by hand the seed from the residue within the bag.

Another option for harvesting is to wait until the cone opens on the tree (as it naturally will) and harvest the cone from the piñon pine, followed by the extracting process mentioned above. Fallen seeds can also be gathered beneath the trees.

Because pine nuts are an important food source for many animals, overharvesting of pine nuts threatens local ecosystems, an effect occurring during the early 21st century with increased culinary uses for pine nuts.{{cite news|title=Making Pesto? Hold the Pine Nuts|author=Jonathan C. Slaght|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/19/opinion/making-pesto-hold-the-pine-nuts.html|work=The New York Times|date=19 October 2015|access-date=8 May 2019}} In the United States, millions of hectares of productive pinyon pine woods have been destroyed due to conversion of lands, and in China and Russia, destructive harvesting techniques (such as breaking off whole branches to harvest the cones) and removal of trees for timber have led to losses in production capacity.

Some growers claim that the elevation of the pinyon pine is an important determinant of the quantity of pine cone production and, therefore, will largely determine the number of pine nuts the tree will yield.{{Cite web|title=Elevation and Pinecone Production|url=http://www.wholesalepinenuts.com/index.html#elevation_pinecone_production

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718042443/http://www.wholesalepinenuts.com/index.html

| archive-date= 18 July 2011

|access-date=2023-01-16|website=www.wholesalepinenuts.com}} The US Department of Agriculture notes that variation in cone production between trees growing on identical sites is often observed.{{ cite web

| url = https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_1/pinus/monophylla.htm

| publisher= USDA

| quote = Difference in ... cone production among trees growing on identical sites {{sic|1=are}} commonly observed.

| title= Singleleaf Pinyon

|first1=R. O. |last1=Meeuwig|first2=J. D. |last2=Budy|first3=R. L. |last3=Everett

| access-date= 4 June 2023

}}

American pinyon pine cone production is most commonly found at an elevation between {{convert|6000|and|8500|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}}, and ideally at {{convert|7000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}}. This is due to higher temperatures at elevations lower than {{convert|6000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} during the spring, which dry up humidity and moisture content (particularly snow packs) that provide for the tree throughout the spring and summer, causing little nourishment for pine cone maturity.

Although several other environmental factors determine the conditions of the ecosystem (such as clouds and rain), the trees tend to abort cones without sufficient water. High humidity encourages cone development.{{Cite web |title=Pine Cones Open and Close in Response to Weather — Biological Strategy — AskNature |url=https://asknature.org/strategy/pine-cones-open-and-close-in-response-to-weather/ |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=asknature.org |language=en-US}} There are certain topographical areas found in lower elevations, such as shaded canyons, where the humidity remains constant throughout the spring and summer, allowing pine cones to fully mature and produce seed.

At elevations above {{convert|8500|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}}, the temperature substantially drops, drastically affecting the state of the dormant cone. During the winter, frequent dramatic changes in temperature, drying, and gusty winds make the cones susceptible to freeze-drying that permanently damages them; in this case, growth is stunted, and the seeds deteriorate.{{cite web|publisher=Wholesale Pine Nuts|url=https://www.wholesalepinenuts.com/index.html#pollination_seed_development |title=Pinecone production in regards to elevation|work=Pinecone Characteristics and Ecology|access-date= 20 April 2010}}

File:Nuts of pine 2 species.jpg and Armand pine nut distinctions|alt=Korean pine and Armand pine pine nut physical characteristics and noticeable differences]]

When first extracted from the pine cone, they are covered with a hard shell (seed coat), thin in some species and thick in others. The nutrition is stored in the embryo (sporophyte) in the center. Although a nut in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense, pine nuts are seeds; being a gymnosperm, they lack a carpel (fruit) outside.

The shell must be removed before the pine nut can be eaten. Unshelled pine nuts have a long shelf life if kept dry and refrigerated ({{convert|-5|to|2|C|F|disp=or}}); shelled nuts (and unshelled nuts in warm conditions) deteriorate rapidly, becoming rancid within a few weeks or even days in warm, humid conditions. Pine nuts are commercially available in the shelled form, but due to poor storage, they can have poor flavor and may already be rancid at the time of purchase. Consequently, pine nuts are often frozen to preserve their flavor.{{cite web|title=Pine Nut Shelf Life: How Long Do Pine Nuts Last?|website=freshpantry.com |url=https://fresherpantry.com/nuts/how-long-do-pine-nuts-last/ |access-date=23 May 2021 }}

European pine nuts may be distinguished from Asian ones by their greater length than girth; Asian pine nuts are stubbier, shaped somewhat like long kernels of corn. The American piñon nuts are known for their large size and ease of shelling. In the United States, Pinus edulis, the hard shell of New Mexico and Colorado, became a sought-after species due to the trading post system and the Navajo people who used the nuts as a means of commerce. The Italian pine nut (P. pinea) was brought to the United States by immigrants and became a favored treat along the East Coast in the early 1930s, when bumper crops of American pine nuts were readily available at low prices.

{{nutritionalvalue | name = Nuts, pine nuts, shelled, dried | kJ=2815 | protein=13.7 g | fat=68.4 g | satfat=4.9 g | monofat=18.7 g | polyfat=34.1 g | carbs=13.1 g | sugars=3.6 g | starch=5.81 g | fiber=3.7 g | choline_mg=55.8 | thiamin_mg=0.4 | riboflavin_mg=0.2 | niacin_mg=4.4 | folate_ug=34 | vitA_ug = 1 | betacarotene_ug=17 | pantothenic_mg=0.3 | vitB6_mg=0.1 | vitC_mg=0.8 | vitE_mg=9.3 | vitK_ug=53.9 | calcium_mg=16 | iron_mg=5.5 | magnesium_mg=251 | manganese_mg=8.8 | selenium_ug=0.7 | phosphorus_mg=575 | potassium_mg=597 | zinc_mg=6.4 | water=2.3 g | copper_mg=1.3 | source_usda=1 | note=[https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/1100548/nutrients Link to USDA Database entry]}}

When dried for eating, pine nuts are 2% water, 13% carbohydrates, 14% protein, and 68% fat (table). In a {{convert|100|g|oz|abbr=off|adj=on|frac=2}} reference serving, dried pine nuts supply {{convert|2815|kJ|kcal|abbr=off}} of food energy and are a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of numerous micronutrients, particularly manganese (419% DV), phosphorus (82% DV), magnesium (71% DV), zinc (67% DV), copper (65% DV), vitamin E (62% DV), vitamin K (51% DV), and the B vitamins, thiamin and niacin (29–35% DV), among others (table).

Pine nuts have been eaten in Europe and Asia since the Paleolithic period.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}} They are frequently added to meat, fish, salads, and vegetable dishes or baked into bread.

File:Shelled pine nuts and cedar oil in vials. Buryatia, Russia.jpg, Buryatia|Shelled nuts and vials of cedar oil. Buryatia, Russia]]

File:Pinon nuts packed for shipment, 1921.jpg, 1921|alt=Pinons packed for shipment, Santa Fe, NM, US, 1921]]

File:Drying of pine nuts.jpg

In Italian, they are called pinoli (in the US, they are often called pignoli, but in Italy, pignolo is actually a word far more commonly used to describe a fussy, overly fastidious or extremely meticulous person)Locally also pinoccoli or pinocchi; Pinocchio is the Tuscan (Florentine) word for "pine nut", from Vulgar Latin *pīnuculus. (Devoto, Battisti-Alessio) and are an essential component of Italian pesto sauce; the upsurge in the popularity of this sauce since the 1990s has increased the visibility of the nut in America, primarily on the West Coast. Torta della nonna (literally "granny's cake") is a generic Italian dish name that in most families indicates an old family recipe for any cake but often is used for a tart or a pie filled with custard, topped with pine nuts and optionally dusted with icing sugar. Pignoli cookies, an Italian American specialty confection (in Italy, these would be called biscotti ai pinoli), are made of almond flour formed into a dough similar to that of a macaroon and then topped with pine nuts.

In Catalonia, a sweet is made of small marzipan balls covered with pine nuts, painted with egg, and lightly cooked, and those are called "panellets". Pine nuts are also featured in the salade landaise of southwestern France. Nevada, or Great Basin, pine nut has a sweet fruity flavor and is promoted for its large size, sweet flavor, and ease of peeling.

File:Christmas pinioli cookies.jpg Italian pinioli cookies from Charleston, South Carolina]]

Pine nuts are also widely used in Levantine cuisine, reflected in a diverse range of dishes such as kibbeh, sambusak, fatayer, and Maqluba, desserts such as baklava, meghli, and many others.Basan, Ghillie. The Levantine Table: Vibrant and delicious recipes from the Eastern Mediterranean and Beyond, Ryland Peters & Small, London, July 12, 2022

Throughout Europe, the Levant, and West Asia, the pine nuts used are traditionally from Pinus pinea (stone pine).{{Dubious|date=January 2012}} They are easily distinguished from the Asian pine nuts by their more slender shape and more homogeneous flesh. Because of the lower price, Asian pine nuts are also often used, especially in cheaper preparations.

Pine nut oil is added to foods for flavor.{{cite book| chapter-url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/X0453E/X0453e12.htm| title=Non-wood forest products from conifers| chapter=Chapter 8: Seeds, Fruits and Cones| author=FAO| year=1995| access-date=27 October 2018| archive-date=19 May 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180519144301/http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0453e/X0453e12.htm| url-status=dead}}

Some raw pine nuts can cause pine mouth syndrome, a taste disturbance lasting from a few days to a few weeks after consumption. A bitter, metallic, unpleasant taste is reported. There are no known lasting effects, with the United States Food and Drug Administration reporting that there are "no apparent adverse clinical side effects".{{cite web|title='Pine Mouth' and Consumption of Pine Nuts |url=https://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/SafetyAlertsAdvisories/ucm247099.htm |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/7993/20171104181535/https://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/SafetyAlertsAdvisories/ucm247099.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 November 2017 |date=14 March 2011 |access-date=2 January 2016|website=FDA.gov}} Raw nuts from Pinus armandii, mainly in China, may be the cause of the problem.{{cite journal |pmid=21559093|doi=10.1155/2011/316789 |title=Identification of the Botanical Origin of Commercial Pine Nuts Responsible for Dysgeusia by Gas-Liquid Chromatography Analysis of Fatty Acid Profile |year=2011 |last1=Destaillats |first1=Frédéric |last2=Cruz-Hernandez |first2=Cristina |last3=Giuffrida |first3=Francesca |last4=Dionisi |first4=Fabiola |last5=Mostin |first5=Martine |last6=Verstegen |first6=Geert |journal=Journal of Toxicology |volume=2011 |pages=1–7 |pmc=3090612 |doi-access=free }} Metallic taste disturbance is typically reported 1–3 days after ingestion, being worse on day two and typically lasting up to two weeks. Cases are self-limited and resolve without treatment.{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s13181-009-0001-1 |title='Pine Mouth' Syndrome: Cacogeusia Following Ingestion of Pine Nuts (Genus: Pinus). An Emerging Problem? |year=2010 |last1=Munk |first1=Marc-David |journal=Journal of Medical Toxicology|volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=158–159 |pmid=20049580 |pmc=3550279 }}{{cite journal|last=Ballin|first=Nicolai Z.|title=A Trial Investigating the Symptoms Related to Pine Nut Syndrome|journal=Journal of Medical Toxicology|date=17 February 2014 |volume=8 |issue=3|pages=278–280 |doi=10.1007/s13181-012-0216-4 |pmid=22351301|pmc=3550163}}

In the United States, from 2008 to 2012, some people reported a bitter metallic taste ("pine mouth") that sometimes lasted for weeks after they ate pine nuts. After an international investigation, the FDA found that some manufacturers substituted a non-food species of pine nuts in place of more expensive edible pine nut species as a form of food fraud.{{cite web |last1=Nutrition |first1=Center for Food Safety and Applied |title=Economically Motivated Adulteration (Food Fraud) |url=https://www.fda.gov/food/compliance-enforcement-food/economically-motivated-adulteration-food-fraud |website=FDA |access-date=18 May 2024 |language=en |date=April 15, 2024}}{{source-attribution}}

Some Native American tribes use the hard outer shell of the pine nut as a bead for decorative purposes in traditional regalia and jewelry. In the Great Basin area of the US, collecting pine nuts is a protected right through state law and treaty.{{cite web|title=Indians 101: Pine Nuts|url=http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1048|website=NativeAmericanRoots.net}}

In northern California, pine nuts are collected from the grey pine or bull pine. Tribes burn designs into the hard shell, reflecting the same design they use in baskets; however, they are often left blank or burned to blacken. These are more often used in women's regalia and jewelry.{{cite web|title=Our People, Traditional Materials and Designs – Karuk, Yurok, Hupa|url=http://www.fromtherivercollective.com/Our_People.html|website=fromtheerivercollective.com}}

• Assidat Zgougou – a Tunisian dessert made of pine nuts
• Jatjuk – a Korean porridge prepared using pine nuts
• List of edible seeds

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite journal | last1 = Farris | first1 = Glenn J. | year = 1982 | title = Pine Nuts as an Aboriginal Food Source in California and Nevada: Some Contrasts | journal =Journal of Ethnobiology| volume = 2 | issue = 2| pages = 114–122 |url=https://ethnobiology.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/JoE/2-2/Farris1982.pdf }}
• {{cite book| author=Farris, Glenn J. & Blackburn, T.C. (Comp. and Ed.) & Anderson K. |chapter=Quality Food: The Quest for Pine Nuts in Northern California|title= Before the Wilderness: Environmental Management by Native Californians|pages= 229–240|number= 40|edition=Ballena Press, 1993}}

{{Commons category|Pinus seeds}}

• {{cite web|url=https://www.cbi.eu/market-information/processed-fruit-vegetables-edible-nuts/pine-nuts|title=Exporting pine nuts to Europe

|website=Center for the Promotion of Imports |date=24 April 2019 |access-date=2023-01-03}}

• {{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/10/08/354306891/love-pine-nuts-then-protect-pine-forests|title=Love Pine Nuts? Then Protect Pine Forests|access-date=19 April 2015|author=Charles, Dan |date=8 October 2014|website=NPR}}

{{Nuts}}

{{Non-timber forest products}}

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Category:Edible nuts and seeds

Category:Pinus

Category:Plants used in Native American cuisine

Category:Cuisine of the Southwestern United States