The pine (Pinus domesticus), which belongs to the "Pinacee" family, has evergreen leafs and woody fruits, with cone form, which contain the pinenut kernels.
Diffused in Italy and Spain, from where they are native, you can often find it in almost all southern European coastal zones.
Considered the resurrection tree, the pine was holy for Greeks.
Once the cones are opened, the seeds called pinenuts, experience a long process that makes them suitable for direct consumption or for recipes, bakery products, pesto and sauces.
The pinenut process requires shelling, blanching, drying and selecting, to make it white and uniform.
Between Serfruit's origins, we remember the Mediterranean one (Italy, Spain and Turkey) with a particular sweet taste ideal for cakes, biscuits a ice cream production.
The Chinese origin ( pinus koraiensis, pinus sibirica) has a less ovoidal form and a small portion of seed coat on the apical part.
The soft sour taste differentiates Chinese pinenuts from our national product, this variety, for this reason, is mainly used in pesto and sauces production.
Thanks to process innovations (use of sortex, metal detector, plate count treatment and vacuum bags), the Chinese pinenuts are more and more diffused.