List of edible seeds

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A list of edible seeds here includes seeds that are directly foodstuffs, rather than yielding derived products.

A variety of species can provide edible seeds. Of the six major plant parts, seeds are the most important source of human food. The other five major plant parts are roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits. Most edible seeds are angiosperms, but a few are gymnosperms. The most important seed food source is cereals, followed by legumes, and nuts.

The list is divided into the following categories:

  • Beans (or Legumes) are protein-rich soft seeds.
  • Cereals (or grains) are grass-like crops that are harvested for their dry seeds. These seeds are often ground to make flour. Cereals provide almost half of all calories consumed in the world.1 Botanically, true cereals are members of the Poaceae or Grass family.
    • Pseudocereals are cereal crops that are not members of the Poaceae or Grass Family.
  • Nuts are botanically a specific type of fruit but the term is also applied to many edible seeds that are not botanically nuts.
    • Gymnosperms produce nut-like seeds but not flowers or fruits.

Contents

Beans

See also: Category:Edible legumes

Beans, also known as legumes or pulses include:2

Lentils have been part of the human diet since the Neolithic

Cereals

See also: Category:Cereals
Corn is the single largest source of food calories in the world.

True cereals are the seeds of certain species of grass. Three — maize, wheat and rice — account for about half of the calories consumed by people every year.1 Grains can be ground to make flour, used as the basis of bread, cake, noodles or other food products. They can also be boiled or steamed, either whole or ground, and eaten as is. Many cereals are present or past staple foods, provided a large fraction of the calories in the places that they are eaten. Cereals include:

Pseudocereals

Quinoa is not a grass, but its seeds have been eaten for 6000 years.

Nuts

See also: List of edible nuts

Brazil nuts come from a South American tree

According to the botanical definition, nuts are a particular kind of seed.3 Walnuts and acorns are example 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, peanuts and cashews.45

Nut-like gymnosperm seeds

Pine nuts are Gymnosperm seeds that are edible

Miscellaneous

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References

  1. ^ a b FAO. "ProdSTAT". FAOSTAT. Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  2. ^ "Pulses and derived products". Definition and Classification of Commodities. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (1994). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  3. ^ "Nut". Biology Online Dictionary (October 3, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  4. ^ "Nut". The Columbia Online Encyclopedia (2003). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  5. ^ "Nuts and derived products". Definition and Classification of Commodities. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (1996). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  • Bailey, L.H., Bailey, E.Z. and Bailey Hortorium Staff (1976). Hortus Third, New York: Macmillan. 
  • Lewington, A. (1990). Plants for People, Cambridge, MA: Oxford University Press. 

See also

Wikipedia content modification information:

  • This page was last modified on 7 November 2008, at 16:41.

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