If you’ve ever taken a stroll through the woods, you’re bound to have seen pinecones strewn across the forest floor. Since many trees bear edible fruit, you may have even wondered if pinecones are also edible.
Young male pinecones can be eaten whole, or they can be made into a variety of delicacies. A dry pinecone can’t be eaten off the tree or from the ground, but it can consume certain parts, types, and preparations of pinecones. The most common way to consume pinecones is by eating the seeds, also known as pine nuts.
While the outer shells of some pinecones make great fall centerpieces, there is much more to them. Rich in nutrients and delectable to international pallets, pinecones have been harvested and consumed throughout history. From sweet to savory, pinecones are used for sauces, garnishes, and countless other flavors and forms worldwide.
Which Parts of Pinecones are Edible?
Pinecones can be consumed in two ways. The most common of the two is eating the seeds from a female pinecone, pine nuts, or pignoli. Most types aren’t much bigger than a sunflower seed, are a light cream color, and have a sweet and slightly nutty flavor.
Approximately 20 species of pinecones in the world bear pine nuts. While some of the seeds of other varieties are edible, they are too small to be worth harvesting and eating. Some of these different varieties can even be toxic to humans, so never pick seeds out of a pinecone and eat them if you are not optimistic about them being safe to consume.
Most readily available pine nuts are sourced from one of four types of pine trees:
- the Mexican pinon (Pinus cembroides)
- the Colorado pinion ( edulis)
- the Italian stone pine ( pinea)
- the Chinese nut pine ( koraiensis)
These pine trees produce various seeds in size, texture, and flavor. Asian varieties like the Chinese nut pine are usually bitter compared to their European counterparts but can be purchased at a notably cheaper rate.
You can learn more about these pine nuts varieties and how they are harvested here.
Immature male pinecones can also be eaten, although this is much less common. As the softer and less woody variety of the two, male pinecones are edible while still very young and bright green. They can be eaten whole after being boiled to soften them further or prepared in various ways.
What is a Pinecone?
While some trees bear fruit to protect the plant’s seeds until they ripen, fall to the ground, and become new trees, other trees protect these reproductive embryos differently. Pine trees and other conifers belong to the category of plants called gymnosperms, which produce seeds that are not covered by fruit or another type of ovary. Instead, the seeds of Pine trees and other conifers lay on the inner scale of cones, protected by a hard outer shell until they are at maturity.
As with many other species on Earth, the seeds are held by the female cone and require fertilization by a male cone to reproduce. Once the female pinecone reaches maturity, the previously closed scales of the cones open up to expose the seeds, allowing them to become germinated by the pollen of male cones.
Understanding how pinecones work makes it easy to see the distinction between them. The larger, wood-like cones that most people picture when thinking of a pinecone are the females. We usually find these dried and on the ground with their scales open and the seeds already released.
Male pinecones are the other variables that are not as decorative or eye-catching. They are smaller and smoother than female pinecones. Their small scales that hold the spores are much smoother, lie close together, and stay closed.
How to Prepare and Consume Pinecones
Pine nuts are used in many different recipes across cultures and around the world. Although they can be eaten raw, they are often roasted to intensify their nutty taste and add a unique texture and flavor to entrees. In Italy, for example, they are often added to pasta dishes or made into pesto. It is common to find pine nuts as a salad topper or as an addition to various stir-fries. They can even be used for desserts, such as in the Korean pine nut and ginger cookies called Yak Kwa, or in the many European varieties of pine nut cookies.
Check out this list from Saveur for these and many other creative recipes.
Young pinecones are not as widely used but can commonly be made into a jam in eastern European countries such as Russia, Georgia, and Ukraine. Check out this Huffington Post article to find the recipe for this unique jam and other fun facts about pinecones.
They are also known to be made into a tea or mixed with coffee, but you’re otherwise most likely to see them used as edible garnishes than as stand-alone food items.
A third way to consume an element of a pine cone is by gathering the spores off of male cones in the springtime. These spores hold similar nutritional values to pine nuts and can be used to thicken broths and stews or as a substitute for flour. However, this is suggested primarily as a survival tactic or if you ever choose to live strictly off the land somewhere out in the woods and is not a commonly harvested item.
Nutritional Value
Most nuts and seeds are excellent sources of healthy fats, plant-based protein, and nutrient-dense calories. Although pine nuts are lower in protein than tree nuts such as walnuts or almonds, they are high in some essential micronutrients and minerals. They are one of the highest sources of manganese in a single plant source; manganese plays a crucial part in maintaining bone density. Pine nuts also contain high levels of:
- Magnesium
- Phosphorus
- Zinc
- Iron
- Copper
- Calcium
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K.
For a complete breakdown of the nutritional values of pine nuts, check out the USDA’s interactive chart.
Pine nuts are known to be good for heart health, which comes from several factors. Magnesium and vitamin K help prevent the formation of blood clots, while vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant to help preserve and repair cells. Also, magnesium combined with high levels of monounsaturated fats is excellent for aiding in the control of blood sugar levels and in controlling cholesterol by lowering the levels of the “bad cholesterol” LDL.
Like “true” nuts, pine nuts are also believed to help keep the mind healthy. Studies have shown that by aiding in circulating nutrients throughout the body, nuts play a crucial role in preventing cognitive issues such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Verywellfit does a great job of breaking down the many health benefits of pine nuts in this article.
Although there is not much information on the nutritional value of young pinecones, pinecone jam has long been used as a folk remedy. Believed to strengthen the immune system, pinecone jam has been used to cure many ailments, including bronchitis, asthma, and other respiratory diseases, as well as TB, arthritis, and different forms of cancer.
Possible Side Effects
It is possible to be allergic to pine nuts. Although pine nuts are technically seeds, not nuts, pine nuts can cause anaphylactic reactions, including tightening in the chest, swelling of the tongue and lips, vomiting, and hives.
Eating some varieties of pine nuts raw can also cause something known as pine mouth or pine nut syndrome. This side effect causes a bitter, metallic, or otherwise unpleasant taste in the mouth, although the FDA has not reported any clinically adverse effects. Pine’s mouth is usually detected several days after these raw pine nuts are consumed, and symptoms can last up to a month.
