Pine nut oil, also called ''pine seed oil'' or ''cedar nut oil'', is a

vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed ...

, extracted from the edible seeds of several species of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

. While the oil produced from the seeds of more common European and American pine varieties is mostly used for culinary purposes, Siberian pines (growing in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

), as well as Korean pines (growing mostly in North Korea) yield the seeds with the highest content of

pinolenic acid Pinolenic acid (often misspelled as pinoleic acid) is a fatty acid contained in Siberian Pine nuts, Korean Pine nuts and the seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called ...

, as well as

antioxidants Antioxidants are Chemical compound, compounds that inhibit Redox, oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce Radical (chemistry), free radicals. Autoxidation leads to degradation of organic compounds, including living matter. Antioxidants ...

associated with medicinal uses.

Culinary uses

Pine nut oil has a relatively low

smoke point The smoke point, also referred to as the burning point, is the temperature at which an oil or fat begins to produce a continuous bluish smoke that becomes clearly visible, dependent upon specific and defined conditions. This happens when one or ...

, and is therefore not generally used during cooking. Rather, it is added to foods for "finishing", to add flavor. Pine nut oil is also a useful bread preservative when a small amount is added to the

dough Dough is a malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from flour (which itself is made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops). Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes ...

Triglyceride composition

One analysis of the

triglyceride A triglyceride (from '' tri-'' and '' glyceride''; also TG, triacylglycerol, TAG, or triacylglyceride) is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acids. Triglycerides are the main constituents of body fat in humans and other vertebrates ...

composition of Siberian pine nut oil showed the following composition:

References

{{Fatsandoils Vegetable oils Nut oils

Culinary uses

Triglyceride composition

See also

References