How to Cure Pine Nuts With a Bad Aftertaste

Pine mouth syndrome is linked most predominantly to pine nuts grown in China and the rest of Asia.

There is no cure for pine nuts that contain a bitter aftertaste. The occurrence does not happen in all pine nuts but, when it does, it is undetectable at a large-scale level. The bitter, metallic aftertaste can last in your mouth anywhere from two days to two weeks after eating a bad pine nut. Luckily, a bitter pine nut is not hazardous in any way to your health; it simply makes the consumption of food afterward unpleasant. The only precautions for preventing bitter pine nuts are storing them properly and noting their country of origin before purchase.

Things You'll Need

• Tomato juice
• Aloe juice
• Fresh ginger

Instructions

1. Check the pine nut package for the country of origin--most bad pine nuts are imported from Asia, particularly from China. Many "pine mouth" cases, as the unpleasant condition is referred to, trace the offending nuts to China, Vietnam or Korea. There is a significant size difference between the varieties grown in China and those from Italy, with Chinese pine nuts averaging at about half of the size of an Italian nut. When purchasing pine nuts, select varieties harvested in the United States or in Italy to help reduce the risk of bad nuts.

2. Store the pine nuts in a sealed bag or container kept in the refrigerator or freezer. Pine nuts are ruined by oxidation, therefore, nuts that are left out on the counter are at risk of spoiling and acquiring a metallic aftertaste.

3. Drink tomato juice to help cleanse the taste buds. If you consume a bad pine nut, the only cure for the aftertaste is to dilute the effects on your taste buds. The bad taste is caused by a protein in the nut that binds to the taste buds in the tongue. Drinking a glass of tomato juice helps to remove the proteins and taste, though it is not a guaranteed cure.

4. Drink aloe juice or fresh ginger tea as an alternative to tomato juice. Though neither treatment has scientific backing, both are home-remedy favorites for at least partial relief of pine mouth.

References

• Epicurious: Got Pine Mouth?
• European Journal of Emergency Medicine: Taste disturbances after pine nut ingestion
• Pine Nut Syndrome: The Ones to Avoid
• Institute of Food Technologists: The Curious Case of the Epicurean Nut