Pine trees grow in the wild, cold regions of the northern hemisphere, particularly of Siberia and Canada. They are huge, straight trees and may reach up to 22 metres in height. While all pine trees produce pine nuts, only those of about 18 species are large enough to be of value as human food. Two of the most prominent among these are the Pinus sibirica and Pinus koraiensis, which are found in Asia, Europe and North America. The principal procuring countries of pine kernels are Spain, Italy, China, Portugal and Turkey.

Pine trees produces pine cones, which contain pine nuts. These feature a tough dark-brown outer coat. Inside, its edible kernel has cream white, delicate buttery flavour and sweet taste. Europe and Asia have a long history of eating pine kernels. The nuts are frequently added to meat, fish, salads and vegetable dishes or baked into bread. In Italian they are called pinoli and are an essential component of Italian pesto sauce. Pine nut coffee, known as piñón (Spanish for pine nut), is a speciality in the south western United States, especially in New Mexico, and is typically a dark roast coffee with a deep, nutty flavour. Pine nuts are also widely used in Middle Eastern cuisine, reflected in a diverse range of dishes such as kibbeh, sambusak, desserts such as baklava, and many others.

Pine nuts comprise of numerous health promoting phyto-chemicals, antioxidants, minerals and are an excellent source of vitamin B complex. The nuts contain a lot of fats and are especially rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids like oleic acid, which helps to lower LDL or "bad cholesterol" and increases HDL or "good-cholesterol" in the blood. Pines are gluten free tree nuts.