List of edible seeds

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Cereals are edible seeds that are used to create many different food products. Various grains edit2.jpg
Cereals are edible seeds that are used to create many different food products.

An edible seed [n 1] is a seed that is suitable for human or animal consumption. Of the six major plant parts, [n 2] seeds are the dominant source of human calories and protein. [1] A wide variety of plant species provide edible seeds; most are angiosperms, while a few are gymnosperms. As a global food source, the most important edible seeds by weight are cereals, followed by legumes, nuts, [2] then spices.

Contents

Cereals (grain crops) and legumes (pulses) correspond with the botanical families Poaceae and Fabaceae, respectively, while nuts, pseudocereals, and other seeds form polyphylic groups based on their culinary roles.

Grains (cereals and millets)

Grains are the edible seed of a plants in the grass family Poaceae. Grains come in two varieties, the larger grains produced by drought-sensitive crops are called cereals, and the smaller drought-resistant varieties are millets. Grains can be consumed in a variety of ways, all of which require husking and cooking, including whole, rolled, puffed, or ground into flour. Many cereals are present or past staple foods, providing a large fraction of the calories in the places in which they are eaten. Today, cereals provide almost half of all calories consumed in the world. [3]

Cereals
FamilyTribeGenusSpeciesSeed name(s)Photo
Poaceae Andropogoneae Sorghum S. bicolor sorghum
Lalibela-Sorgho.jpg
Zea Z. mays maize, corn, corn kernel
GEM corn.jpg
Eragrostideae Eleusine E. coracana finger millet
Ragi (Eleusine coracana) BNC (cropped).png
Eragrostis E. tef teff
Lalibela-Teff.jpg
Oryzeae Oryza O. sativa Asian rice
Brown rice.jpg
O. glaberrima African rice
Reis - Sorte C voll.jpg
Zizania wild rice
Wildricecooked.jpg
Paniceae Digitaria D. exilis black fonio
Digitaria exilis (Kippist) Stapf - fonio - DIEX4 - Jose Hernandez @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database.jpg
D. iburua white fonio
Panicum P. miliaceum proso millet
Millet.jpg
P. sumatrense little millet
A closeup fo Samai millet with husk.JPG
Pennisetum P. glaucum pearl millet
Pearl millet after combine harvesting.jpg
Setaria S. italica foxtail millet
Hulled foxtail millet.jpg
Poeae Avena A. sativa oat, oat groat
Avena sativa 004.JPG
Triticeae Hordeum H. vulgare barley, barley groat
Barley grains 3.jpg
Secale S. cereale rye, rye berry
Secale cereale (roggekorrels).jpg
× Triticosecale triticale
LPCC-651-Grans de triticale.jpg
Triticum T. aestivum wheat, wheat berry
Wheatberries.jpg
T. durum durum, durum wheat
Pates (ble dur) Cl1 J Weber (24056865996).jpg
T. monococcum einkorn
Einkorn BMK.jpg
T. spelta spelt, spelt wheat
2009-06-20 Silvolde 02 dinkel.jpg
T. turanicum kamut
Les Plantes Cultivades. Cereals. Imatge 1857.jpg
T. turgidum emmer
Thinopyrum T. intermedium Kernza
Thinopyrum intermedium seeds 3.jpg

Other grasses with edible seeds include:

Pseudocereals

A pseudocereal, or pseudocereal grain, is the edible seed of a pseudocereal, one of a polyphyletic group of plants that produce seeds that resemble those of cereals. Pseudocereals are used in many of the same ways as cereals.

Pseudocereals
FamilyGenusSpeciesSeed name(s)Photo
Amaranthaceae Amaranthus amaranth, amaranth grain
Amaranthkorn.jpg
Chenopodium C. berlandieri pitseed goosefoot
Huauzontle2.jpg
C. pallidicaule kañiwa
Canihua (Chenopodium pallidicaule).jpg
C. quinoa quinoa
Colored quinoa Genebank INIA Juliaca.JPG
Capparaceae Boscia B. senegalensis hanza
Washed Boscia senegalensis seeds.JPG
Lamiaceae Salvia S. hispanica chia, chia seed
Chiasamen 07 (fcm).jpg
Linaceae Linum L. usitatissimum flax, flaxseed, linseed
Flax seeds.jpg
Moraceae Brosimum B. alicastrum breadnut
Ramon nuts 05.jpg
Pedaliaceae Sesamum S. indicum sesame, sesame seed
Chamkkae (sesame).jpg
Polygonaceae Fagopyrum F. esculentum buckwheat, buckwheat groat
Grechnevaia kasha.jpg

Legumes

A legume, or pulse, is the edible seed of a legume, a plant in the family Fabaceae. [4] Legumes can be divided into grams, which do not split, and dals, which split.

Legumes
FamilyTribeGenusSpeciesSeed name(s)Photo
Fabaceae Dalbergieae Arachis A. hypogaea peanut (groundnut)
Arachis hypogaea 005.JPG
Cicereae Cicer C. arietinum chickpea, garbanzo bean, gram
Sa-whitegreen-chickpea.jpg
Fabeae Pisum P. sativum pea [n 3]
Pisum sativum green.jpg
Millettieae Millettia M. pinnata Indian beechnut
Millettia pinnata pods.jpg
Phaseoleae Cajanus C. Cajan pigeon pea
Pigeon peas dried.jpg
Glycine G. max soybean
Soybeanvarieties.jpg
Phaseolus P. lunatus lima bean
NCI lima beans.jpg
P. vulgaris common bean [n 4]
Bean market10 lo.jpg
Vigna V.aconitifolia moth bean
Matki.JPG
V. angularis adzuki bean
Azuki Beans.jpg
V. mungo black gram
Black gram.jpg
V. radiata mung bean, green gram
Vigna radiata, groene mungboon.jpg
V. subterranea Bambara groundnut
Vigna subterranea (4350578751).jpg
V. unguiculata cowpea
BlackeyeBean.jpg
Vicieae Lens L. culinaris lentil
3 types of lentil.jpg
Vicia V. faba fava bean, broad bean
Vicia faba 01.jpg
Seeds of Atriplex nummularia, Australia Atriplexnummularia.jpg
Seeds of Atriplex nummularia, Australia

Although some beans can be consumed raw, some need to be heated before consumption. In certain cultures, beans that require heating are initially prepared as a seed cake. Beans that need heating include: [5]

Nuts

Brazil nuts Bertholletia excelsa seeds closeup.jpg
Brazil nuts
Roasted and salted cashew nuts CashewSnack.jpg
Roasted and salted cashew nuts
Roasted pistachios Pistachios in shells.jpg
Roasted pistachios
A whole walnut kernel Whole Walnut Kernel.jpg
A whole walnut kernel

According to the botanical definition, nuts are a particular kind of fruit. [6] Chestnuts, hazelnuts, and acorns are examples of nuts under this definition. In culinary terms, however, the term is used more broadly to include fruits that are not botanically qualified as nuts, but that have a similar appearance and culinary role. Examples of culinary nuts include almonds and cashews. [7] [8]

Nut-like gymnosperm seeds

Pine nuts KoreanPineSeeds.jpg
Pine nuts

Edible gymnosperm seeds that resembles nuts include:

Other

Pomegranate has edible seeds. Pomegranate fruit - whole and piece with arils.jpg
Pomegranate has edible seeds.

Other edible seeds that do not neatly fit into the above categories include:

See also

Footnotes

  1. Variously referred to as a bean, berry, grain, groat, kernel, nut, or pulse, among other names, depending on the plant from which it derives.
  2. Seed, root, stem, leaf, flower, and fruit.
  3. Cultivars include the snap pea and snow pea (both fruits).
  4. Cultivars include the black bean, green bean (fruit), kidney bean, navy bean, and pinto bean.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bean</span> Seed of one of several genera of the plant family Fabaceae

A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fruit</span> Seed-bearing part of a flowering plant

In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vegetarian cuisine</span> Food not including meat

Vegetarian cuisine is based on food that meets vegetarian standards by not including meat and animal tissue products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peanut</span> Legume cultivated as a grain and oil crop

The peanut, also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and large commercial producers. It is classified as both a grain legume and, due to its high oil content, an oil crop. World annual production of shelled peanuts was 44 million tonnes in 2016, led by China with 38% of the world total. Atypically among legume crop plants, peanut pods develop underground (geocarpy) rather than above ground. With this characteristic in mind, the botanist Carl Linnaeus gave peanuts the specific epithet hypogaea, which means "under the earth".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nut (fruit)</span> In botany, type of dry indehiscent fruit

A nut is a fruit consisting of a hard or tough nutshell protecting a kernel which is usually edible. In general usage and in a culinary sense, a wide variety of dry seeds are called nuts, but in a botanical context "nut" implies that the shell does not open to release the seed (indehiscent).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sprouting</span> Practice of germinating seeds to be eaten raw or cooked

Sprouting is the natural process by which seeds or spores germinate and put out shoots, and already established plants produce new leaves or buds, or other structures experience further growth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legume</span> Plant in the family Fabaceae

A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae, or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock forage and silage, and as soil-enhancing green manure. Well-known legumes include beans, soybeans, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils, lupins, grass peas, mesquite, carob, tamarind, alfalfa, and clover. Legumes produce a botanically unique type of fruit – a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces on two sides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Almond butter</span> Nut butter made from almonds

Almond butter is a food paste made from grinding almonds into a nut butter. Almond butter may be "crunchy" or "smooth", and is generally "stir" or "no-stir" (emulsified). Almond butter may be either raw or roasted, but this describes the almonds themselves, prior to grinding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bush bread</span> Seedcakes baked by Aboriginal Australians

Bush bread, or seedcakes, refers to the bread made by Aboriginal Australians by crushing seeds into a dough that is then baked. The bread is high in protein and carbohydrate, and forms part of a balanced traditional diet. It is also sometimes referred to as damper, although damper is more commonly used to describe the bread made by non-Indigenous people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grain</span> Edible dry seed

A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legumes.

Among the many systems of classification of crops, commercial, agricultural, and taxonomical can be considered to be the most widely accepted agriculture classification of crops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lists of foods</span>

This is a categorically-organized list of foods. Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is produced either by plants, animals, or fungi, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. The substance is ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism's cells in an effort to produce energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staple food</span> Food that is eaten routinely and considered a dominant portion of a standard diet

A staple food, food staple, or simply staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for an individual or a population group, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and generally forming a significant proportion of the intake of other nutrients as well. For humans, a staple food of a specific society may be eaten as often as every day or every meal, and most people live on a diet based on just a small variety of food staples. Specific staples vary from place to place, but typically are inexpensive or readily available foods that supply one or more of the macronutrients and micronutrients needed for survival and health: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, and vitamins. Typical examples include grains, seeds, nuts and root vegetables. Among them, cereals, legumes and tubers account for about 90% of the world's food calorie intake.

References

  1. "Human Appropriation of the World's Food Supply". Global Change Curriculum. University of Michigan. 2006-01-04. Archived from the original on 2011-12-04.
  2. Desai, Babasaheb (2000). Handbook of Nutrition and Diet. CRC Press. p. 196.
  3. FAO. "ProdSTAT". FAOSTAT. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
  4. "Pulses and derived products". Definition and Classification of Commodities. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 1994. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
  5. Isaacs, Jennifer. Bush food: Aboriginal food and herbal medicine.
  6. "Nut". Biology Online Dictionary. October 3, 2005. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
  7. "Nut". The Columbia Online Encyclopedia. 2003. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
  8. "Nuts and derived products". Definition and Classification of Commodities. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 1996. Retrieved 2006-12-26.

Further reading