Pine nuts: A review of recent sanitary conditions and market development

Pine nuts are non-wood forest products (NWFP) with a constantly growing market notwithstanding a series of phytosanitary issues and related trade problems. The aim of this paper is to review the literature on the relationship between phytosanitary problems and trade development. Production and trade of pine nuts in Mediterranean Europe have been negatively affected by the spreading of Diplodia sapinea (a fungus) associated with an adventive insect Leptoglossus occidentalis (fungal vector), with impacts on forest management, production and profitability and thus in value chain organization. Reduced availability of domestic production in markets with a growing demand has stimulated the import of pine nuts. China has become a leading exporter of pine nuts, but its export is affected by a symptom caused by the nuts of some pine species: 'pine nut syndrome' (PNS). Most of the studies mentioned in the literature review concern PNS occurrence associated with the nuts of Pinus armandii. We highlight the need for a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of the pine nuts value chain organization, where research on food properties and clinical toxicology may be connected to breeding and forest management, forest pathology and entomology, and trade development.