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Nuts
A nut is a seed of a plant. more...
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Botanical definition
A nut in botany is a simple dry fruit with one seed (rarely two) in which the ovary wall becomes very hard (stony or woody) at maturity, and where the seed remains unattached or unfused with the ovary wall. Most nuts come from pistils with inferior ovaries (see flower) and all are indehiscent (not opening at maturity). True nuts are produced - for example - by some plants-families of the order Fagales. Note that not all true nuts are edible; some (e.g. birch, alder, hornbeam, wingnut) are too small to be worth eating. Others, like the tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus), are bitter due to tannins and require extensive leaching before they are edible.
- Order Fagales
Family Juglandaceae
Walnut, Butternut (Juglans);
Hickory, Pecan (Carya);
Wingnut (Pterocarya);
;
Family Fagaceae
Chestnut (Castanea);
Beech (Fagus);
Oak (Quercus);
Stone-oak, Tanoak (Lithocarpus);
;
Family Betulaceae
Alder (Alnus);
Birch (Betula);
Hazel, Filbert (Corylus);
Hornbeam (Carpinus);
;
Culinary definition and uses
A nut in cuisine is a much less restrictive category than a nut in botany, the term being applied (or misapplied, depending upon the viewpoint) to many seeds that are not true nuts. Any large, oily kernel found within a shell and used in food may be regarded as a nut. Because nuts generally have a high oil content, they are a highly prized food and energy source. A large number of seeds are edible by humans and used in cooking, eaten raw, sprouted, or roasted as a snack food, or pressed for oil that is used in cookery and cosmetics. By the same token, nuts (or seeds generally) are a significant source of nutrition for wildlife. This is particularly true in temperate climates where animals such as jays and squirrels store acorns and other nuts during the autumn to keep them from starving during the winter and early spring.
Some fruits and seeds that are nuts in the culinary sense but not in the botanical sense:
Almond, is the edible seed of a drupe - the leathery "flesh" is removed at harvest.;
Brazil nuts are seeds from a capsule.;
Candlenut (used for oil) is a seed.;
Cashew nuts are seeds.;
Coconut is a dry fibrous drupe.;
Corn nut is a roasted or deep fried maize seed.;
Horse-chestnut (not edible) is a capsule.;
Macadamia creamy white kernel, with an oily sweet flavor (Macadamia integrifolia).;
Peanut is a legume and a seed.;
Pine nuts are the seeds of several species of pine (coniferous trees).;
Pistachio nut is the seed of a thin-shelled drupe.;
Read more at Wikipedia.org
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