Pine nut

Shelled European pine (Pinus pinea) nuts

Shelled Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) nuts

Pine nuts, also called piñón (Spanish: [piˈɲon]), pinoli (Italian: [piˈnɔːli]), or pignoli, are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus Pinus). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are traded locally or internationally^[1] owing to their seed size being large enough to be worth harvesting; in other pines, the seeds are also edible but are too small to be of notable value as human food.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] The biggest producers of pine nuts are China, Russia, North Korea, Pakistan and Afghanistan.^[5]

As pines are gymnosperms, not angiosperms (flowering plants), pine nuts are not "true nuts"; they are not botanical fruits, the seed not being enclosed in an ovary which develops into the fruit, but simply bare seeds—"gymnosperm" meaning literally "naked seed" (from Ancient Greek: γυμνός, romanized: gymnos, lit. 'naked' and σπέρμα, sperma, 'seed'). The similarity of pine nuts to some angiosperm fruits is an example of convergent evolution.

^ ^a ^b Awan, Hafiz Umair Masood; Pettenella, Davide (2017). "Pine Nuts: A Review of Recent Sanitary Conditions and Market Development". Forests. 8 (10): 367. doi:10.3390/f8100367. hdl:10138/228885.
^ Farjon, A (2005). Pines. Drawings and descriptions of the genus Pinus. Koninklijke Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-13916-9.^{[page needed]}
^ Lanner, RM (1981). The Piñon Pine. A Natural and Cultural History. University of Nevada Press. ISBN 978-0-87417-066-5.^{[page needed]}
^ Lanner, RM (1981). Made for Each Other. A Symbiosys of Birds and Pines. Oxford University Press (OUP). ISBN 978-0-19-508903-5.^{[page needed]}
^ "Why are pine nuts so expensive? 4 reasons a small bag costs so much". TODAY.com. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2024.

[:0-1] Awan, Hafiz Umair Masood; Pettenella, Davide (2017). "Pine Nuts: A Review of Recent Sanitary Conditions and Market Development". Forests. 8 (10): 367. doi:10.3390/f8100367. hdl:10138/228885.

[farjon-2] Farjon, A (2005). Pines. Drawings and descriptions of the genus Pinus. Koninklijke Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-13916-9.^{[page needed]}

[lanner1-3] Lanner, RM (1981). The Piñon Pine. A Natural and Cultural History. University of Nevada Press. ISBN 978-0-87417-066-5.^{[page needed]}

[lanner2-4] Lanner, RM (1981). Made for Each Other. A Symbiosys of Birds and Pines. Oxford University Press (OUP). ISBN 978-0-19-508903-5.^{[page needed]}

[5] "Why are pine nuts so expensive? 4 reasons a small bag costs so much". TODAY.com. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2024.

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