Have you ever wondered if a seed is a nut or if a nut is a seed?
Such a question can be important when considering allergen risk.
One of the easiest ways to distinguish between a nut and a seed is that a seed doesn't have a hard shell which protects the inner seed.
A seed has a softer outer casing which is developed by attaching to the ovary wall of the fruit, think pumpkin or butternut squash are good examples.
You can shake a nut and hear the seed rattle inside, but you cannot hear anything when you shake a bean with multiple seeds attached to the wall of the fruit.
You can remove plant seeds from its fruits, such as seeds inside a papaya fruit.
As for nuts, the part inside the outer shell comprises both the seeds and fruits, and cannot be removed.
And did you know that a peanut isn't a nut at all, but it is a legume? The peanut develops in pods that ripen underground!
And Brazil nuts or pine nuts aren't nuts either, they are seeds!
So in summary
- Nuts are hard seeds that do not split open when mature. But seeds do break open when mature.
- Most foods we call nuts are usually not.
- Nuts are seeds, but seeds can never be a nut.
- Nuts are usually one-seeded fruit.
- Peanuts and groundnut are legumes and never a nut.
And to clarify, all Simplyseedz porridge oat blends contain pumpkin and sunflower seeds and do not contain any nuts.
But if you are a nut lover, why not try our new nut butter mixed in with or pop a dollop on your bowl of Simplyseedz to our porridge, it's delicious!
They make a delicious and extra nutrition to your breakfast!