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How Are Pine Nuts Made?

by Allison Boelcke

Overview

Pine nuts are nuts that come from pine trees in North America, China, North Africa and the Mediterranean. They are also called pignoli or Indian nuts. Pine nuts are one of the most expensive varieties of nuts because their harvesting process is long, tedious and done by hand. After they are harvested, pine nuts are at high risk for spoiling quickly because they contain a large amount of fat and oil that can quickly turn rancid. Pine nuts are a staple in the culinary world, especially Mediterranean cuisine, so they are in high demand, even though their harvest process is long and their shelf life is short.

Pine Cones

Pine nuts are located inside of the cones that grow on pine trees. Pine nut harvesters generally have two options for removing the seeds from the pine cones: picking unripe cones and waiting for them to open or shaking the seeds from ripe cones. If harvesters choose to climb and pick the unripe pine cones, they wear protective gloves to shield themselves from the sticky pine pitch that covers the pine cones. Harvesters climb ladders that are laid against the pine tree, pick the pine cones singly by hand, and gather them in a sack. Another method pine nut harvesters use is to shake the pine nuts loose from ripened pine cones still on the trees. They lay a tarp underneath the pine tree, climb ladders that are leaned against the pine tree, and shake the branches to make the pine nuts come loose and fall. Harvesters then gather the fallen pine nuts by hand from the ground.
Nutting

If a pine nut harvester hand picked pine cones that have not ripened, he will have to lay the sacks of pine cones in the sun for up to a week to warm them enough so they open. After the pine cones open, he can shake the sacks, which will loosen the pine nuts from the cones. If he already shook the pine nuts from ripened pine cones, he does not have to do any additional heating. After all of the pine nuts are removed from the pine cones, the harvester will place the nuts on a sifter to separate the nuts from the dirt or cone particles. After the pine nuts are clean, no additional processing is needed and they can be distributed to stores or farmers' markets.