Pine nut

[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.

[12] Commonly used species include: Pine nuts will not reach full maturity unless the environmental conditions are favorable for the tree and the cone.

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.

[13] 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.

[14] The US Department of Agriculture notes that variation in cone production between trees growing on identical sites is often observed.

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.

[16] 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.

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.

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.

[citation needed] They are frequently added to meat, fish, salads, and vegetable dishes or baked into bread.

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)[21] 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.

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 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.

[dubious – discuss] They are easily distinguished from the Asian pine nuts by their more slender shape and more homogeneous flesh.

[28] Some Native American tribes use the hard outer shell of the pine nut as a bead for decorative purposes in traditional regalia and jewelry.