Seeds as Food

• Seeds are structures by which plants create a new

generation of their kind. They contain an embryonic plant
together with a food supply to fuel its germination and
early growth. 
• The most important edible seeds  3 groups : 
• Grains or Cereal : plants in the grass family, the
Gramineae / Poaceae
• Legumes : plants in the bean family, the Fabaceae /
Leguminosae, whose members bear pods that contain
several seeds. 
• Nuts : come from several different plant families, not
just one. They are generally large seeds enclosed in
hard shells, and borne on long-lived trees. 
*exclude seed which are eaten together with the fruits
Seeds as Food
Other groups :
• Pseudocereals  Non-Gramineae plants that are
used in much the same way as cereals. Their seed
can be ground into flour and otherwise used as
cereals. Examples : amaranth, quinoa, and
buckwheat
• Nut-like gymnosperm seeds  Gnetum gnemon
(Melinjo)
• Others : sunflower seed, pumpkin seed,
watermelon seed, cocoa, coffee, etc.
Oil Seeds
• Canola • Sunflower
• Cottonseed • Palm
• Peanut • Cocoa
• Soybean • Rice bran
• Corn • Sesame
Cereals or Grains
• Important food source due to its nutrition content
 high carbohydrate content, mainly starches
• Fiber is found mainly in the outer layers of the grain
 refined grains lost fiber. Ex : whole wheat has 12
g fiber / 100 g while refined wheat flour has only 2
g
• Cereals outer cell also has vitamins, esp Vit E and
Vit B and mineral, esp. Fe, Mg and Ca
Starch in Cereals
• All starch consists of chains of individual molecules of the sugar called
glucose.
• But there are two different kinds of starch molecules in starch granules,
and they behave very differently.
• Amylose  made from around 1,000 glucose, mainly one extended chain,
with just a few long branches.
• Amylopectin molecules  made from 5,000 to 20,000 sugars and have
hundreds of short branches.
• Amylose  simple molecule that can easily settle into compact, orderly,
tightly bonded clusters; Amylopectin a large, bushy, bulky molecule
that doesn’t cluster easily or tightly.
• Amylose – amylopectin proportions depend on the kind and variety of
seed. Legume starch granules are 30% or more amylose. Wheat, barley,
maize, and long-grain rice granules are around 20%. Short-grain rice
granules contain about 15% amylose, while “sticky” rice starch granules
are almost pure amylopectin.
• Cereals also contain protein, especially oats and
wheats
• However, the protein is not as complete as meat
due to lack of some essential amino acids such as
lysine. A good combination with other food source
may complement them
• Some protein in cereal may cause allergic reaction
to people who are intolerant to it, ex : gluten
Grain Structure
Examples of main cereals
• Wheat
• Maize / corn
• Oats
• Rice
• Millet
• Barley
• Rye
• Sorghum
 Wheat

Widely cultivated variants :

• Common wheat, or bread wheat
(Triticum aestivum)  mostly
cultivated
• Durum wheat (Triticum durum) 
used for pasta and macaroni

Whole grain flour contains the whole

grain, including bran, germ, and
endosperm
Wheat Flour
• High protein content  made from hard wheat,
protein content 10-13%, used for yeast bread
baking
• Medium protein content  “all-purpose” flour,
protein content (9-12%)
• Low protein content  made from soft wheat,
protein content (8-10%), used for cookies
Barley
• Barley / ‘jelai’ (Hordeum vulgare)  the primary
cereal in ancient Babylon, Egypt and Mediterranean
world; grown in the Indus valley civilization long
before rice.
• In the Middle Ages, barley were the staple foods of
the peasantry, while wheat was reserved for the
upper classes.
• Today  minor food in the West; half of production
is fed to animals, and a third is used in the form of
malt (germinated grain)
Barley