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There are approximately 100 varieties of pine trees worldwide, most of which are in the northern hemisphere.
"Pine nut" or "Pine seed" is the name of the edible seed found inside the pinecone.
More commonly, the pine nut has been considered as a food for perennial youth, long life, and good nourishment.
In addition, it is used as a wonder drug for heart disease in China.
The Jilin Province, located in Northeast China, is the main Chinese pine nut production area.
The Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, located along the Russian and North Korean borders, produces large, good quality pine nuts.
The Main Chinese pine tree variety is the Korean (red) pine.
The pinecone is as big as the length of 12cm ¨C 16cm and diameter of about 10cm.
Harvest time is between September and October next year, then pinecones are sun-dried or machine dried.
When the pinecone is ripen, the scale opens and the seed appears inside, and the part of endosperm of the seed is edible as pine nut.
The pine nut with the yellowish color is called "long life seed" in China and the pine nut used be one of the foods - miraculous medicine - for a mountain hermit, which doctor Gehong recorded in the classics called "Bao Pu Zi".
There is a well-known phrased called "eat pine nuts, drink water".
Pine nuts contain many nutrients, most notably as potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin E.
In addition, they have generous amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Pine nuts contain linolenic acid of the series of n-3, an unsaturated fatty acid, as well.
This acid is different from those contained in other vegetable oils.
In pine nuts, it is called P-linolenic acid, or Pinolenic acid in Japan.
Pinolenic acid has functions, such as lowering bad cholesterol, preventing arteriosclerosis by increasing blood circulation, blood vessel elasticity recovery, having clean blood, and reducing hepatic fat.
These nutrients along with vitamin E, all of which are in pine nuts, have significant antioxidant properties.
Pine nuts can be eaten raw or roasted and are used in a variety of foods worldwide. |
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Pine Nuts (raw) |
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