What is the difference between Seed, Grain, Nut, Kernel, Pit, Bean?
What is the difference between Seed, Grain, Nut, Kernel, Pit, Bean?
Seed (as in apple)
Grain (as in wheat),
fruit
Nut (as in almond)
Kernel (as in corn)
Pit (as in olive)
Bean (as in fava/broad bean)
Hierarchy: Bean <- Seed <- Grain
Is Bean super type of seed?
Is seed super type of grain?
My some assumptions:
- Kernel is the soft, edible part of a nut. Kernels refer specifically to nuts.
- Grains are small, hard, dry seeds.
- central part of a fruit that contains the seeds e.g. He threw the core of the apple away.
- A nut is a fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, which is generally edible.
Best Answer
Your assumptions and "hierarchy" are incorrect. "Seed" is the most basic term, the other terms are characterizations of seeds. However, the use of any given term in a culinary settings may have little to do with the term's strict botanical definition. For culinary purposes there are no definite rules for which things are called nuts, pits, beans, grains, etc.
For example, the term beans used to be exclusively used for broad beans (fava beans), but today we use the term to describe plants as biologically and geographically disparate as soy, garbanzo, coffee, legumes, castor, and cocoa.
Kernel does not only refer to the center part of a nut. It is also regularly used to refer to the individual seeds of corn/maize, wheat, buckwheat, and barley.
Grains used to refer specifically to the seeds of grass food crops like wheat, barley, oats, and corn/maize. Today it is also a catch-all term which is used for similar food crops that are not grass seeds such as amaranth, millet, quinoa, rice, buckwheat, and even soy.
As a culinary term, "nut" has also undergone an expansion of meaning from, as you put it, "a fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, which is generally edible" to include basically any relatively large, oily kernels found within a shell and used in food. In fact, the majority of the "nuts" we commonly eat are not true nuts.
Pictures about "What is the difference between Seed, Grain, Nut, Kernel, Pit, Bean?"
Quick Answer about "What is the difference between Seed, Grain, Nut, Kernel, Pit, Bean?"
Kernel - The essential part of the seed. Everything inside the seed wall. Bean - The name given to some leguminous seeds.What is the difference between nuts seeds and grains?
Kernels refer specifically to nuts. Grains are small, hard, dry seeds. central part of a fruit that contains the seeds e.g. He threw the core of the apple away. A nut is a fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, which is generally edible.What is the difference between a nut and a bean?
Nuts usually have only one seed although they can have two as mentioned earlier. In the case of beans, there can be multiple seeds. By the word multiple, this means that beans can have as many as half a dozen bean seeds in one pod. Lastly, true nut seeds are not connected or stuck to the ovary wall.How Are Nuts Different from Seeds?
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Vie Studio, Mike, LEONARDO VAZQUEZ, Lukas