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In Europe, pine nuts come from the Stone Pine (Pinus pinea), which has been cultivated for the nuts for over 6,000 years, and harvested from wild trees for far longer. The Swiss Pine (Pinus cembra) is also used to a very small extent.

In Asia, two species are widely harvested, Korean Pine (Pinus koraiensis) in northeast Asia and Chilgoza Pine (Pinus gerardiana) in the western Himalaya. Four other species, Siberian Pine (Pinus sibirica), Siberian Dwarf Pine (Pinus pumila), Chinese White Pine (Pinus armandii) and Lacebark Pine (Pinus bungeana) are also used to a lesser extent.

In North America the main species are three of the pinyon pines, Colorado Pinyon (Pinus edulis), Single-leaf Pinyon (Pinus monophylla) and Mexican Pinyon (Pinus cembroides). The other eight pinyon species are used to a small extent, as are Gray PineGray Pine Scientific classification : Plantae : Pinophyta : Pinopsida : Pinales : Pinaceae Pinus Pinus sabineana Binomial name Pinus sabineana The Gray Pine Pinus sabineana is a pine endemic to California in the United States. The tree typically grows to (Pinus sabineana), Torrey PineTorrey Pine A Torrey Pine in its harsh native habitat : Plantae : Pinophyta : Pinopsida : Pinales : Pinaceae Pinus torreyana Binomial name ''Pinus torreyana The Torrey Pine Pinus torreyana is a broad, open-crowned pine growing to 8-15 m tall, with 20-35 c (Pinus torreyana) and Sugar PineSugar Pine Cones and needles Scientific classification : Plantae : Pinophyta : Pinopsida : Pinales : Pinaceae Pinus Strobus lambertiana Binomial name Pinus lambertiana The Sugar Pine Pinus lambertiana family Pinaceae) is a species of pine that occurs in t (Pinus lambertiana).

Pine nuts are high in proteinmyoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. This protein was the first to have its structure solved by X-ray crystallography by Max Perutz and Sir John Cowdery Kendrew in 1958, which led to them receiving a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. A protein is a complex,, and have been eaten in Europe and Asia since the PaleolithicThe Paleolithic or Palaeolithic lit. old stone period is the oldest part of the stone age, dating from the first use of stone tools by hominids (maybe 2,000,000 years ago) to the end of the Pleistocene epoch. Subdivisions of the Paleolithic include the Lo period. They are also a source of dietary fibre. Pine nuts are an essential component of pestoPesto is an Italian sauce, generally attributed to the Liguria region of Northern Italy, specifically the city of Genoa pesto alla Genovese . It has been known, in various forms, since Roman times, and probably originated in North Africa. Today, basil, ga, and are frequently added to meatMeat is animal flesh (mainly muscle tissue) used as food, sometimes with the exception of fish, other seafood, and poultry. Originally, the word meat meant simply "food". It is also used as a vulgar way to refer to the human body. see meat market. For the, fish, and vegetable dishes. They are also used in chocolates and desserts such as baklava.

When first extracted from the pine cone, pine nuts are covered with a hard shell (seed coat), thin in some species, thick in others. The nutrition is stored in the large female gametophytic tissue that supports the developing embryo ( sporophyte) in the centre. They are not a true nut as (being a gymnosperm) they lack a carpel (fruit) outside.

Unshelled pine nuts have a long shelf life if kept dry and refrigerated (at -5 to +2°C), but the shell must be removed before the nut is eaten; shelled nuts (and unshelled nuts in warm conditions) deteriorate rapidly, becoming rancid within a few weeks, or even days in warm humid conditions. Pine nuts are commercially available in shelled form, but due to poor storage, these rarely have a good flavour, all too often already being rancid before they are purchased. The most important species in international trade is Korean Pine, harvested in northeast China. In the United States, the pinyon pines have traditionally been the most highly sought after pine nuts.

Pine nuts are called piñones in Spanish and pinoli (locally also pinoccoli or pinocchi - Pinocchio means in fact 'pine nut') in Italian. In the US, they are also known as Indian nuts, as they are mainly harvested by Native American ("Red Indian") tribes; in many areas, they have exclusive rights to the harvest.

In the US, bad land use practices have led to the destruction of millions of hectares of productive pinyon pine woods by conversion to grazing lands, and in China, destructive harvesting techniques (breaking off whole branches to harvest the cones) and cutting of the trees for timber have led to losses in production capacity.

The large edible seeds of species of the Southern Hemisphere conifer genus Araucaria, notably the Monkey-puzzle (A. araucana) of Chile and the Bunya-bunya (A. bidwillii) of Australia, are also often called pine nuts.