Nut (fruit) in the context of Betulaceae

A fruit tree is a tree which bears fruit that is consumed or used by animals and humans. All trees that are flowering plants produce fruit, which are the ripened ovaries of flowers containing one or more seeds. In horticultural usage, the term "fruit tree" is limited to those that provide fruit for human food. Types of fruits are described and defined elsewhere (see Fruit), but would include "fruit" in a culinary sense, as well as some nut-bearing trees, such as walnuts.

The scientific study and the cultivation of fruits is called pomology, which divides fruits into groups based on plant morphology and anatomy. Some of those groups are pome fruits, which include apples and pears, and stone fruits, which include peaches/nectarines, almonds, apricots, plums and cherries.

In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (/ˌkɔːrn(j)əˈkoʊpiə, -n(j)uː-/ ; from Latin cornu 'horn' and copia 'abundance'), also called the horn of plenty, is a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, or nuts. In Greek, it was called the "horn of Amalthea" (Ancient Greek: κέρας Ἀμαλθείας, romanized: kéras Amaltheías), after Amalthea, a nurse of Zeus, who is often part of stories of the horn's origin.

Baskets or panniers of this form were traditionally used in western Asia and Europe to hold and carry newly harvested food products. The horn-shaped basket would be worn on the back or slung around the torso, leaving the harvester's hands free for picking.

The Juglandaceae are a plant family known as the walnut family. They are trees, or sometimes shrubs, in the order Fagales. Members of this family are native to the Americas, Eurasia, and Southeast Asia.

The nine or ten genera in the family have a total of around 50 species, and include the commercially important nut-producing trees walnut (Juglans), pecan (Carya illinoinensis), and hickory (Carya). The Persian walnut, Juglans regia, is one of the major nut crops of the world. Walnut, hickory, and gaulin are also valuable timber trees while pecan wood is also valued as cooking fuel.

The almond (Prunus amygdalus, syn. Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A.Webb, nom. illeg. non Prunus dulcis Rouchy) is a species of tree from the genus Prunus. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus Amygdalus, distinguished from the other subgenera by corrugations on the shell (endocarp) surrounding the seed.

The fruit of the almond is a drupe, consisting of an outer hull and a hard shell with the seed, which is not a true nut. Shelling almonds refers to removing the shell to reveal the seed. Almonds are sold shelled or unshelled. Blanched almonds are shelled almonds that have been treated with hot water to soften the seedcoat, which is then removed to reveal the white embryo. Once almonds are cleaned and processed, they can be stored for around a year if kept refrigerated; at higher temperatures they will become rancid more quickly. Almonds are used in many cuisines, often featuring prominently in desserts, such as marzipan.

A staple food, food staple, or simply staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for an individual or a population group, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and generally forming a significant proportion of the intake of other nutrients as well. For humans, a staple food of a specific society may be eaten as often as every day or every meal, and most people live on a diet based on just a small variety of food staples. Specific staples vary from place to place, but typically are inexpensive or readily available foods that supply one or more of the macronutrients and micronutrients needed for survival and health: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins. Typical examples include grains (cereals and legumes), seeds, nuts and root vegetables (tubers and roots). Among them, cereals (rice, wheat, oat, maize, etc.), legumes (lentils and beans) and tubers (e.g. potato, taro and yam) account for about 90% of the world's food calorie intake.

Early agricultural civilizations valued the crop foods that they established as staples because, in addition to providing necessary nutrition, they generally are suitable for storage over long periods of time without decay. Such nonperishable foods are the only possible staples during seasons of shortage, such as dry seasons or cold temperate winters, against which times harvests have been stored. During seasons of surplus, wider choices of foods may be available.

The Nueces River (/njuˈeɪsɪs/ new-AY-siss; Spanish: Río Nueces, IPA: [ˈri.o ˈnweses]) is a river in the U.S. state of Texas, about 315 miles (507 km) long. It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the southernmost major river in Texas northeast of the Rio Grande. Nueces is Spanish for nuts, specifically pecans; early settlers named the river after the numerous pecan trees along its banks.

Aromatic rice is one of the major types of rice. It is a medium- to long-grained rice. It is known for its nutty aroma and taste, which is caused by the chemical compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline. Varieties of aromatic rice include Ambemohar, Basmati, Jasmine, Radhunipagal, Sona Masuri, Texmati, Tulaipanji, Tulshimala, Wehani, Kalijira, Chinigura, Gobindobhog, Kali Mooch and wild Pecan rice. When cooked, the grains have a light and fluffy texture except for Gobindobhog rice which is sticky in texture.

Aromatic rice produces more 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline than usual due to a loss-of-function mutation in the BADH2 gene. The BADH2 mutation can be transferred by conventional breeding; it is a recessive trait. Gene editing can be used to induce a similar mutation in ordinary rice, turning them aromatic without affecting other traits.

Methanethiol (/ˌmɛθeɪnˈθaɪ.ɒl/ METH-ayn-THY-ol), also called methyl mercaptan, is an organosulfur compound with the chemical formula CH₃SH. It is a colorless flammable gas with a distinctive putrid smell. In small amounts, it is pervasive in nature and found in certain foods, such as some nuts and cheese. It contributes to many odors, including the emissions from pulp mills, bad breath, and flatus. Methanethiol is the simplest thiol and is sometimes abbreviated as MeSH.

A granular material is a conglomeration of discrete solid, macroscopic particles characterized by a loss of energy whenever the particles interact (the most common example would be friction when grains collide). The constituents that compose granular material are large enough such that they are not subject to thermal motion fluctuations. Thus, the lower size limit for grains in granular material is about 1 μm. On the upper size limit, the physics of granular materials may be applied to ice floes where the individual grains are icebergs and to asteroid belts of the Solar System with individual grains being asteroids.

Some examples of granular materials are snow, nuts, coal, sand, rice, coffee, corn flakes, salt, and bearing balls. Research into granular materials is thus directly applicable and goes back at least to Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, whose law of friction was originally stated for granular materials. Granular materials are commercially important in applications as diverse as pharmaceutical industry, agriculture, and energy production.

Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including flowers, fruits, stems, leaves, roots, and seeds. An alternative definition is applied somewhat arbitrarily, often by culinary and cultural tradition; it may include savoury fruits such as tomatoes and squash, flowers such as broccoli, and seeds such as pulses, but exclude foods derived from some plants that are fruits, flowers, nuts, and cereal grains.

Originally, vegetables were collected from the wild by hunter-gatherers and entered cultivation in several parts of the world, probably during the period 10,000 BC to 7,000 BC, when a new agricultural way of life developed. At first, plants that grew locally were cultivated, but as time went on, trade brought common and exotic crops from elsewhere to add to domestic types. Nowadays, most vegetables are grown all over the world as climate permits, and crops may be cultivated in protected environments in less suitable locations. China is the largest producer of vegetables, and global trade in agricultural products allows consumers to purchase vegetables grown in faraway countries. The scale of production varies from subsistence farmers supplying the needs of their family for food, to agribusinesses with vast acreages of single-product crops. Depending on the type of vegetable concerned, harvesting the crop is followed by grading, storing, processing, and marketing.

Flour is a powder used to make many different foods, including baked goods, as well as thickening dishes. It is made by grinding grains, beans, nuts, seeds, roots, or vegetables using a mill.

Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures. Archaeologists have found evidence of humans making cereal flour over 14,000 years ago. Other cereal flours include corn flour, which has been important in Mesoamerican cuisine since ancient times and remains a staple in the Americas, while rye flour is a constituent of bread in both Central Europe and Northern Europe. Cereal flour consists either of the endosperm, germ, and bran together, known as whole-grain flour, or of the endosperm alone, which is known as refined flour. 'Meal' is technically differentiable from flour as having slightly coarser particle size, known as degree of comminution. However, the word 'meal' is synonymous with 'flour' in some parts of the world. The processing of cereal flour to produce white flour, where the outer layers are removed, means nutrients are lost. Such flour, and the breads made from them, may be fortified by adding nutrients. As of 2016, it is a legal requirement in 86 countries to fortify wheat flour.

Fagus sylvatica, the European beech or common beech, is a large, graceful deciduous tree in the beech family with smooth silvery-grey bark, large leaf area, and a short trunk with low branches. It is native to much of Europe, growing in humid climates.

The species is cultivated as an ornamental. Although slightly toxic due to the tannins and alkaloids they contain, the nuts are consumed by animals and humans. The trees are also used for timber.

Dietary fiber, fibre, or roughage is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical composition and can be grouped generally by their solubility, viscosity and fermentability which affect how fibers are processed in the body. Dietary fiber has two main subtypes: soluble fiber and insoluble fiber which are components of plant-based foods such as legumes, whole grains, cereals, vegetables, fruits, and nuts or seeds. A diet high in regular fiber consumption is generally associated with supporting health and lowering the risk of several diseases. Dietary fiber consists of non-starch polysaccharides and other plant components such as cellulose, resistant starch, resistant dextrins, inulins, lignins, chitins, pectins, beta-glucans, and oligosaccharides.

Food sources of dietary fiber have traditionally been divided according to whether they provide soluble or insoluble fiber. Plant foods contain both types of fiber in varying amounts according to the fiber characteristics of viscosity and fermentability. Advantages of consuming fiber depend upon which type is consumed. Bulking fibers – such as cellulose and hemicellulose (including psyllium) – absorb and hold water, promoting bowel movement regularity. Viscous fibers – such as beta-glucan and psyllium – thicken the fecal mass. Fermentable fibers – such as resistant starch, xanthan gum, and inulin – feed the bacteria and microbiota of the large intestine and are metabolized to yield short-chain fatty acids, which have diverse roles in gastrointestinal health.

A grove is a small group of trees with minimal or no undergrowth, or a small orchard planted for the cultivation of fruits or nuts. Naturally occurring groves are typically small, perhaps a few acres at most, such as a sequoia grove. In contrast, orchards, which are normally intentional planting of trees, may be small or very large, like the apple orchards in Washington state, orange groves in Florida and olive groves in Australia.

A grove may be called an 'arbour' or 'arbor', which is not to be confused with the garden structure pergola, which also sometimes goes under that name. Other words for groups of trees include woodland, woodlot, thicket, and stand. Groves often contain plant and animal species that have become extinct in adjacent areas, and they harbor great genetic diversity. Therefore, they have become biodiversity hotspots, as various species seek refuge in the areas due to progressive habitat destruction.

Plant milk is a category of non-dairy beverages made from a water-based plant extract for flavoring and aroma. Nut milk is a subcategory made from nuts, while other plant milks may be created from grains, pseudocereals, legumes, seeds or endosperm. Plant-based milks are consumed as alternatives to dairy milk and provide similar qualities, such as a creamy mouthfeel, as well as a bland or palatable taste. Many are sweetened or flavored (e.g., vanilla).

As of 2021, there were about 17 different types of plant milks, of which almond, oat, soy, coconut and pea are the highest-selling worldwide. Production of plant milks—particularly soy, oat, and pea milks—can offer environmental advantages over animal milks in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and land and water use.

Cake is a baker's confectionery usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate and which share features with desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.

The most common ingredients include flour, sugar, eggs, fat (such as butter, oil, or margarine), a liquid, and a leavening agent, such as baking soda or baking powder. Common additional ingredients include dried, candied, or fresh fruit, nuts, cocoa, and extracts such as vanilla, with numerous substitutions for the primary ingredients. Cakes can also be filled with fruit preserves, nuts, or dessert sauces (like custard, jelly, cooked fruit, whipped cream, or syrups), iced with buttercream or other icings, and decorated with marzipan, piped borders, or candied fruit.