The name pine nuts refers to the fruits of several plant species that belong to the pine family. Their range of distribution covers the whole world, but the most popular and widespread is the so-called Siberian cedar. This is a pine tree, which gives edible cones with seeds after 20 years of growth.
The kernels of pine nuts have a pleasant taste and medicinal properties. It is a treasure trove of a large number of vitamins and trace elements necessary for the body to maintain health and normal growth.
What do pine nuts grow on?
In Russia, pine nuts are harvested from the Siberian pine, or as it is also called, the cedar pine. It got its name because of its external resemblance to the Lebanese cedar. However, these are two different species of trees, which have only one thing in common: they belong to the family of evergreens. In fact, the fruits of the real cedar are inedible and are smaller in size.
Edible nuts are sometimes also harvested from the Pinia pine, which is also a member of the Cedar family.
How does pine nut grow?
There are more than 20 species of pine trees in the world, the fruits of which are used in the food industry.
The Siberian pine has already become a real symbol. It is one of the oldest evergreen trees in the world, reaching a height of 45 meters. It has a very slow growth process - no more than 1.5 months a year - so its fruits take a long time to form. It takes about 20 years.
Each bud contains more than 100 seeds, suitable for consumption. The nuts take over 12 months to ripen and then drop on their own from mid-August to October.
The timing of the ripening can vary depending on the location and the growing conditions of the pine. Therefore, it is often difficult to predict the yield of these trees. The greatest number of nuts can be obtained only every few years (4-8), while the pine bears fruit every 2 years.
When to harvest pine nuts?
The harvesting season for Siberian pine is usually early to mid-September. However, the yield directly depends on what the summer period was like. Humid weather is considered the most favorable for harvesting pine nuts. If the air is too dry, however, the cones will fall off poorly because the resin will hinder this.
The time to collect the kernels is not more than 1-2 months. Already by the end of October, the cone harvesting period is over. Harvesting resumes only by spring - between the end of April and May.
It is forbidden to harvest cones before they are fully ripe, as it harms not only the pine, but also the forage base of forest birds and animals. The timing of the collection of Siberian cedar nuts is strictly determined by the local legislative authority.
How pine nuts are extracted?
The process of harvesting the nuts is quite labor-intensive and takes place in several stages. The fruits of the Siberian pine tree, which reaches a height of up to 45 meters, are mainly concentrated in its upper part. The harvesting requires a specially trained crew, which is sent to the taiga for a whole week.
The nuts are harvested in several ways:
- The easiest and least time-consuming method is to collect the buds that have already fallen. However, they usually fall unevenly, so this method is considered the least effective.
- There must be a person on the picking team who is capable of picking cones at a height. He climbs up the tree and knocks down the ripe fruits while the rest of the team collects them below.
- The most difficult thing to gather cones is to knock them down with a special hammer made of wood. The device weighs about 50 kg, so its use requires physical training.
The resulting raw material is collected in bags and transported for further cleaning. Usually it takes about 4 bags of cones to produce 1 sack of seeds.
How nuts are processed after harvesting?
Processing of Siberian pine cones is carried out in a special box, inside which a shaft is built in. The fruits are crushed, and then the seeds are separated from husks and other debris by sifting through a fine sieve. The peeled kernels are dried by campfire on a metal sheet. The final sorting of nuts and their transportation is carried out at the end of the harvesting season.
