Pinus pinea cone, seed and pine nut morphometry and health

<p>Seven plantations were monitored in winters of the 2010-2020 period, except for 2016. Ten healthy 3-year-old cones were randomly harvested per plantation each year, following former study [28]; in few years the number of collected cones was lower than 10 due to harvesting complexities. Cones were collected from different trees and immediately weighed (fresh weight), as indicated by several authors.&nbsp;Harvested cones were processed at INFOR&rsquo;s laboratory to extract seeds (in-shell pine nuts) and pine nuts (kernels) each year, totaling 560 cones in the study period. Seed number per cone was counted and seed and pine nuts were weighed and measured in the laboratory. Empty and damaged seeds were also quantified to monitor cone health.</p>