thumb|upright=1.2|[[Cereals are edible seeds that are used to create many different food products.]]
An edible seed is a seed that is suitable for human 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, and spices.
Grain crops (cereals and millets) and legumes correspond with the botanical families Poaceae and Fabaceae, respectively, while nuts, pseudocereals, and other seeds form polyphylic groups based on their culinary roles.
Grains
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.
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="6" style="background:#ffdead;"| Cereals
|-
! Family
! Tribe
! Genus
! Species
! Seed name(s)
! Photo
|-
| rowspan="31" | Poaceae
| rowspan="3" | Andropogoneae
| Sorghum
|S. bicolor
| sorghum
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
|Themeda
|T. triandra
|kangaroo grass, red oat grass
|
|-
| Zea
| Z. mays
| maize, corn, corn kernel
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|Cynodonteae
|Astrebla
|A. pectinata
|barley Mitchell
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |Eragrostideae
|Eleusine
|E. coracana
|finger millet
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
| rowspan="2" |Eragrostis
|E. eriopoda
|woollybutt grass
|
|-
|E. tef
|teff
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
| rowspan="3" |Oryzeae
| rowspan="2" |Oryza
|O. sativa
| Asian rice
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
| O. glaberrima
| African rice
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|Zizania
|
| wild rice
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
| rowspan="10" |Paniceae
| rowspan="2" |Digitaria
|D. iburua
|black fonio
|
|-
|D. exilis
|white fonio
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
| rowspan="5" |Panicum
|P. australiense
|bunch panic
|
|-
|P. decompositum
|native millet
|
|-
|P. effusum
|hairy panic
|
|-
|P. miliaceum
|proso millet
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|P. sumatrense
|little millet
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|Pennisetum
|P. glaucum
|pearl millet
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|Setaria
|S. italica
|foxtail millet
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|Urochloa
|U. piligera
|wattle signalgrass
|
|-
|Poeae
|Avena
|A. sativa
| oat, oat groat
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
| rowspan="10" |Triticeae
|Hordeum
|H. vulgare
| barley, barley groat
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|Secale
|S. cereale
| rye, rye berry
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|× Triticosecale
|
|triticale
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
| rowspan="6" |Triticum
|T. aestivum
| wheat, wheat berry
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|T. durum
| durum, durum wheat
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|T. monococcum
|einkorn
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|T. spelta
| spelt, spelt wheat
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|T. turanicum
| kamut
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|T. turgidum
|emmer
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|Thinopyrum
|T. intermedium
|Kernza
|
|}
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.
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="6" style="background:#ffdead;"| Pseudocereals
|-
! Family
! Genus
! Species
! Seed name(s)
! Photo
|-
| rowspan="4" | Amaranthaceae
| Amaranthus
|
| amaranth, amaranth grain
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
| rowspan="3" | Chenopodium
| C. berlandieri
| pitseed goosefoot
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
| C. pallidicaule
| kañiwa
| frameless|center|x40px<!-- the best photo from limited selection -->
|-
| C. quinoa
| quinoa
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
| Capparaceae
| Boscia
| B. senegalensis
| hanza
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
| Lamiaceae
| Salvia
| S. hispanica
| chia, chia seed
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
| Linaceae
| Linum
| L. usitatissimum
| flax, flaxseed, linseed
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
| Moraceae
| Brosimum
| B. alicastrum
| breadnut
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
| Pedaliaceae
| Sesamum
| S. indicum
| sesame, sesame seed
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
| Polygonaceae
| Fagopyrum
| F. esculentum
| buckwheat, buckwheat groat
| frameless|center|x40px
|}
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.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="6" style="background:#ffdead;"| Legumes
|-
! Family
! Tribe
! Genus
! Species
! Seed name(s)
! Photo
|-
| rowspan="17" | Fabaceae
| Dalbergieae
| Arachis
| A. hypogaea
| peanut (groundnut)
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
| Cicereae
| Cicer
| C. arietinum
| chickpea, garbanzo bean, gram
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
| Fabeae
| Pisum
| P. sativum
| pea
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
| Millettieae
| Pongamia
| P. pinnata
| Indian beechnut
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
| rowspan="11" |Phaseoleae
|Cajanus
|C. cajan
|pigeon pea
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
| Glycine
| G. max
| soybean
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
| rowspan="3" | Phaseolus
|P. coccineus
| runner bean
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|P. lunatus
| lima bean
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
| P. vulgaris
| common bean
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
| rowspan="6" | Vigna
|V.aconitifolia
| moth bean
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|V. angularis
| adzuki bean
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
| V. mungo
| black gram
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
| V. radiata
| mung bean, green gram
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
| V. subterranea
| Bambara groundnut
| frameless|center|x40px
|-
|V. unguiculata
| cowpea
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
| rowspan="2" | Vicieae
| Lens
|L. culinaris
| lentil
|frameless|center|x40px
|-
|Vicia
|V. faba
| fava bean, broad bean
|frameless|center|x40px
|}
thumb|right|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:
- 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
- Vincetoxicum lineare – purple pentatrope
Nuts
thumb|right|[[Brazil nuts]]
thumb|Roasted and salted [[cashew nuts]]
thumb|Roasted [[pistachio]]
thumb|upright|A whole [[walnut kernel]]
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
- Coconut
- 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
thumb|right|200px|[[Pine nuts]]
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
Spices
- Anise
- Annatto
- Black pepper
- Caraway
- Cardamom
- Celery seed
- Coriander
- Cumin
- Fenugreek
- Nigella
- Nutmeg
- Mustard seed
- Poppy seed
- Sesame
- Star anise
- Sumac
- Vanilla
As part of fruit
thumb|Pomegranate has edible seeds.
- Most berries, such as
- Blackberry
- Blueberry
- Mulberry
- Raspberry
- Strawberry
- Some culinary vegetables, such as
- Tomato
- Chili pepper and bell pepper
- Cucumber
- Zucchini
- Guava
- Kiwifruit
- Passion fruit
- Pitaya
- Pomegranate
- Watermelon
Other
Other edible seeds that do not neatly fit into the above categories include:
- Cempedak
- Cocoa bean
- Coffee bean
- Durian
- Fox nut
- Hemp seed
- Jackfruit
- Lotus seed
- Osage orange seed
- Papaya seed
- Sunflower seed
- Pumpkin 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