List of edible seeds

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]

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

Apseudocereal, 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.

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.

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]

• 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

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]

• 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

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

• Bailey, L.H., Bailey, E.Z. and Bailey Hortorium Staff (1976). Hortus Third. New York: Macmillan.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Lewington, A. (1990). Plants for People. Cambridge, MA: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-520840-5.