The Siberian cedar — Pinus sibirica

The Siberian cedar (Pinus sibirica) is a tree with a height of up to 40 metres, the diameter of its trunk reaches 1.5 to 2 metres. In young trees the crown is sharply tapered, in adult trees it is widely spreading, often polyconic. The arrangement of branches is whorled. The upper branches are chandelier-like, raised upward. The bark on young trunks and branches is ash-silver, with grayish brown transverse lenticels, later it is fissured and grey-brown. The needles are 5 to 12 cm in length, soft, trihedral in cross section, dark green with a dove-coloured coating; they are retained on the tree for 3 to 7 years.

Siberian pines live up to 800 years and sometimes longer. These gorgeous giant trees can reach a height of forty meters. The great part of Siberia is covered by taiga — a thick, impassable coniferous forest. Siberian taiga enriches the entire Northern Hemisphere with oxygen.

Pine nuts are one of the calorie-rich edible nuts. 100 g of dry kernels provide 673 calories. Additionally, they comprise of numerous health promoting phytochemicals, vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals.

What a wonderful inhabitants of the Siberian forests. Red squirrels occupy coniferous woods in northern Europe and Siberia, preferring Scots pine, Norway spruce and Siberian pine.

Pine nut oil is a unique product in nature, there is nothing else like it. It is impossible to synthesize. The oil is obtained by cold pressing the ripe kernels of pine nuts on a wooden press. This method does not oxidize the oil’s polyunsaturated fatty acids, since the oil does not come into contact with metal, and the absence of high temperatures preserves the structure of its vitamins and trace elements. As a result, the oil retains the maximum quantity of wholesome substances.