GARDENPlants and seeds

What is the difference between a “grain” and a “seed”?

Some “grain-like seeds” are used as grains like Quinoa, Amaranth, Buchwheat and Millet. Wheat, spelt and oats are clear-cut grains. Sesame and pumpkin seeds are, well, “seeds”. But these all sprout if you put them in water. What is the technical difference between a grain and a seed? By biological standards and culinary standards.

Technically, a grain is a fruit with a single seed fused, while a seed is an ovule (think ‘egg’) with an embryo enclosed within.

In the case of wheat, the flour we derive is mainly the ground up fruit part of the grain, the wheatgerm being the seed part fused within the grain.

In the case of, for instance, the Millet, the ovule part of the seed is so ‘meaty’, comparatively speaking, it has properties reminiscent of the fruit part of grains, and in culinary terms we therefore treat them similarly to a grain.

In seeds like peas and pea-likes, parts of the seed’s embryo, the food starage ones that allow the embryonic plant to push up to reach the surface when planted and germinated, are, when the seeds (peas) are dried, so mealy in their properties, we can grind them up to produce ‘flour’ (like chickpea gram flour, for instance), i.e. a substance that, in culinary terms, reminds us of the properties of grain flour and so we treat them as though they were actually ground up grains.

Hope this helps.

Soybean sprout soup (kongnamulguk)