Take Organic Siberian pine nuts under the brand ALTAIGA are also called cedar nuts. They are wild grown (unlike Italian pine nuts that are often grown in plantations). Siberian pine nuts contain vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants and minerals that can help us to prevent heart diseases. Our cedar nuts are harvested by hand in wild and distant forests around Lake Baikal in Siberia. Lake Baikal, declared in 1996 the UNESCO World Heritage Site, contains about 20% of the world’s unfrozen fresh water and is home to more than 1,700 species of plants and animals.
Our cedars (pine trees) grow in the rocky south-eastern area of the Baikal national park without roads and people. The Baikal forests are under ecological protection, industrial projects harmful for the nature are not allowed. The environment where pine trees (cedars) grow, is extremely important for the quality of cedar nuts. Cedars grow very slowly and reach ages up to 1,000 years, some even more. Pine tree cones take about 14-15 months to mature. Please, note that our cedars belong to the Pinus sibirica specie and do not cause the pine nut syndrome. According to the resent research, the pine nut syndrome is caused by a Chinese pine nuts specie, called Pinus armandii.
We harvest our cedar nuts by hand and protect them from light, oxidation and outside damages, in order to preserve their natural ingredients and health benefits. After harvesting, we manually shell cedar nuts according to the old Siberian traditions. Then, we carefully separate kernels from their shells and immediately put kernels in vacuum packages. Our package is crafted in such a way that it protects cedar nuts from light and damages. Our package has two layers: the inner box containing a vacuum package with nut kernels, and the outer shell protecting pine nuts from light and outside damages.