An edible seed is a seed that is suitable for human or animal consumption. Of the six major plant parts, 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.
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 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family | Tribe | Genus | Species | Seed name(s) | Photo |
| Poaceae | Andropogoneae | Sorghum | S. bicolor | sorghum | |
| Zea | Z. mays | maize, corn, corn kernel | |||
| Eragrostideae | Eleusine | E. coracana | finger millet | ||
| Eragrostis | E. tef | teff | |||
| Oryzeae | Oryza | O. sativa | Asian rice | ||
| O. glaberrima | African rice | ||||
| Zizania | wild rice | ||||
| Paniceae | Digitaria | D. exilis | black fonio | ||
| D. iburua | white fonio | ||||
| Panicum | P. miliaceum | proso millet | |||
| P. sumatrense | little millet | ||||
| Pennisetum | P. glaucum | pearl millet | |||
| Setaria | S. italica | foxtail millet | |||
| Poeae | Avena | A. sativa | oat, oat groat | ||
| Triticeae | Hordeum | H. vulgare | barley, barley groat | ||
| Secale | S. cereale | rye, rye berry | |||
| × Triticosecale | triticale | ||||
| Triticum | T. aestivum | wheat, wheat berry | |||
| T. durum | durum, durum wheat | ||||
| T. monococcum | einkorn | ||||
| T. spelta | spelt, spelt wheat | ||||
| T. turanicum | kamut | ||||
| T. turgidum | |||||
| Thinopyrum | T. intermedium | Kernza | |||
Other grasses with edible seeds include:
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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family | Genus | Species | Seed name(s) | Photo | |
| Amaranthaceae | Amaranthus | amaranth, amaranth grain | |||
| Chenopodium | C. berlandieri | pitseed goosefoot | |||
| C. pallidicaule | kañiwa | ||||
| C. quinoa | quinoa | ||||
| Capparaceae | Boscia | B. senegalensis | hanza | ||
| Lamiaceae | Salvia | S. hispanica | chia, chia seed | ||
| Linaceae | Linum | L. usitatissimum | flax, flaxseed, linseed | ||
| Moraceae | Brosimum | B. alicastrum | breadnut | ||
| Pedaliaceae | Sesamum | S. indicum | sesame, sesame seed | ||
| Polygonaceae | Fagopyrum | F. esculentum | buckwheat, buckwheat groat | ||
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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family | Tribe | Genus | Species | Seed name(s) | Photo |
| Fabaceae | Dalbergieae | Arachis | A. hypogaea | peanut (groundnut) | |
| Cicereae | Cicer | C. arietinum | chickpea, garbanzo bean, gram | ||
| Fabeae | Pisum | P. sativum | pea | ||
| Millettieae | Millettia | M. pinnata | Indian beechnut | ||
| Phaseoleae | Cajanus | C. Cajan | pigeon pea | ||
| Glycine | G. max | soybean | |||
| Phaseolus | P. lunatus | lima bean | |||
| P. vulgaris | common bean | ||||
| Vigna | V.aconitifolia | moth bean | |||
| V. angularis | adzuki bean | ||||
| V. mungo | black gram | ||||
| V. radiata | mung bean, green gram | ||||
| V. subterranea | Bambara groundnut | ||||
| V. unguiculata | cowpea | ||||
| Vicieae | Lens | L. culinaris | lentil | ||
| Vicia | V. faba | fava bean, broad bean | |||
See also: Nut (food) and List of edible nuts.
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]
Edible gymnosperm seeds that resembles nuts include:
Other edible seeds that do not neatly fit into the above categories include: