List of edible seeds

List of edible seeds
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. 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, 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 (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.
Other grasses with edible seeds include:
Astrebla pectinata – barley Mitchell grass
Brachiaria piligera – wattle signalgrass
Eragrostis eriopoda – woollybutt grass
Panicum species, such as native millet (Panicum decompositum) and hairy panic (P. effusum)
Themeda triandra – kangaroo grass
Yakirra australiensis – bunch panic
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.
Legumes
A legume, or pulse, is the edible seed of a legume, a plant in the family Fabaceae. Legumes can be divided into grams, which do not split, and dals, which split.
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:
Acacia species (wattleseed), such as mulga (Acacia aneura), Halls Creek wattle (A. cowleana), southern ironwood (A. estrophiolata), umbrella bush (A. ligulata), Murray's wattle (A. murrayana), curara (A. tetragonophylla), witchetty bush (A. kempeana), wiry wattle (A. coriacea), mallee golden wattle (A. notabilis), ranji bush (A. pyrifolia), bardi bush (A. victoriae), coastal wattle (A. sophorae), shoestring acacia (A. stenophylla), and pindan wattle (A. tumida).
Atriplex nummularia – old man saltbush
Brachychiton species, such as kurrajong (Brachychiton populneus), northern kurrajong (B. diversifolius), desert kurrajong (B. gregorii), and red-flowered kurrajong (B. paradoxus).
Bruguiera gymnorhiza – black mangrove
Calandrinia balonensis – parakeelya
Canarium australianum – mango bark
Canavalia rosea – beach bean
Entada phaseoloides – St. Thomas bean
Marsilea drummondii – nardoo
Rhyncharrhena linearis – purple pentatrope
Nuts
According to the botanical definition, nuts are a particular kind of fruit. 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.
Acorn
Almond
Beech
Brazil nut
Candlenut
Cashew
Chestnuts, including:
Chinese chestnut
Japanese chestnut
Sweet chestnut
Chilean hazel
Egusi and other squash and melon seeds, including:
Colocynth
Malabar gourd
Pepita
Ugu
Guinea peanut
Hazelnuts, including:
Filbert
Hickory, including:
Pecan
Shagbark hickory
Kola nut
Macadamia
Malabar almond
Malabar chestnut
Mamoncillo
Mongongo
Ogbono
Paradise nut
Pili
Pistachio
Shea nut
Walnuts, including:
Black walnut
Nut-like gymnosperm seeds
Edible gymnosperm seeds that resembles nuts include:
Ginkgo
Gnetum
Juniper
Monkey-puzzle
Pine nuts, including
Pinhão
Chilgoza pine
Korean pine
Mexican pinyon
Piñon pine
Single-leaf pinyon
Stone pine
Podocarps
Other
Other edible seeds that do not neatly fit into the above categories include:
Cempedak
Cocoa bean
Coffee bean
Cumin seed
Durian
Fox nut
Hemp seed
Jackfruit
Lotus seed
Mustard seed
Osage orange seed
Poppy seed
Pomegranate seed
Sunflower seed
Pumpkin seed
Watermelon seed
Passion Fruit seed
See also
Eastern Agricultural Complex
List of almond dishes
List of dried foods
List of food origins
List of foods
List of legume dishes
List of maize dishes
List of rice dishes
List of vegetable oils
List of seed-based snacks
Oilseeds
Footnotes
References
Further reading
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seeds, edible