This list of edible seeds 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 dominant source of human calories and protein. 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 global seed food source, by weight, is cereals, followed by legumes, and nuts.
The list is divided into the following categories:
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. Botanically, true cereals are members of the Poaceae, the true grass family.
Pseudocereals are cereal crops that are not grasses.
Legumes including beans and other protein-rich soft seeds.
Nuts are botanically a specific type of fruit, but the term is also applied to many edible seeds that are not nuts in a botanical sense.
Gymnosperms produce nut-like seeds but neither flowers nor fruits.
True cereals are the seeds of certain species of grass. Maize, wheat, and rice account for about half of the calories consumed by people every year. Grains can be ground into flour for bread, cake, noodles, and 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, providing a large fraction of the calories in the places that they are eaten. Cereals include:
Barley
Fonio
Maize
Oats
Palmer's grass
Pearl millet
Rice
Rye
Sorghum
Spelt
Teff
Triticale
Wheat
Wild rice
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
Breadnut
Buckwheat
Cattail
Chia
Flax
Grain amaranth
Hanza
Kañiwa
Pitseed goosefoot
Quinoa
Sesame
Beans and other legumes, or pulses, include:
Bambara groundnut
Chickpea
Cowpeas
Black-eyed pea
Dry beans, including
Common bean
Several species of Vigna, such as the lentil
Fava or broad bean
Hyacinth bean
Lupin
Moringa
Pea
Peanut, also known as groundnut
Pigeon pea
Soybean
Sterculia species
Velvet bean
Winged bean
Yam beans
Although some beans can be consumed raw, some need to be heated before consumption. In certain cultures, beans that need 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
Eucalyptus species, such as tammin mallee (Eucalyptus leptopoda) and coolibah (E. microtheca)
Marsilea drummondii – nardoo
Portulaca species, such as common purslane (Portulaca oleracea) and large pigweed (P. intraterranea)
Nymphaea gigantea – giant waterlily
Rhyncharrhena linearis – purple pentatrope
According to the botanical definition, nuts are a particular kind of seed. 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, coconuts, and cashews.
Acorn
Almond
Beech
Brazil nut
Candlenut
Cashew
Chestnuts, including:
Chinese chestnut
Japanese chestnut
Sweet chestnut
Chilean hazel
Egusi and other melon seeds, including:
Colocynth
Malabar gourd
Pepita
Ugu
Hazelnuts, including:
Filbert
Hickory, including:
Pecan
Shagbark hickory
Indian beech
Kola nut
Macadamia
Malabar almond
Malabar chestnut
Mamoncillo
Mongongo
Ogbono
Paradise nut
Pili
Pistachio
Walnuts, including:
Black walnut
Water chestnut
Cycads
Ginkgo
Gnetum
Juniper
Monkey-puzzle
Pine nuts, including
Pinhão
Chilgoza pine
Korean pine
Mexican pinyon
Piñon pine
Single-leaf pinyon
Stone pine
Podocarps
