Pinus pinea cone, seed and pine nut morphometry and health

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. Harvested cones were processed at INFOR’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.本研究于2010至2020年的冬季对7处种植园开展监测，2016年除外。参照此前的研究[28]，各种植园每年随机采收10颗健康的3年生松球果（cone）；部分年份因采收难度较高，采集的球果数量不足10颗。球果采自不同植株，并参照多位学者的研究方法立即称重，记录鲜重（fresh weight）。每年均在INFOR实验室对采收的球果进行处理，以提取种子（带壳松子，in-shell pine nuts）与松仁（kernels）；本研究周期内累计处理球果共560颗。实验室中统计每颗球果的种子数量，并对种子及松仁进行称重与尺寸测量。此外还统计了空粒与破损种子的数量，以监测球果的健康状况。