Grain vs Seed
Sometimes, the terms seeds and grains are misused due to confusion of meaning of these two, but both the grain and seed have separate meaning and characteristic features. However, some seeds are grains. The intention of this article to discuss the difference between these two terms.
Grain
The word grain has two different meanings. The first one is “a coarse particle”, and the second one is “a unit which is used to measure the mass”. On the other hand, grain is an edible fruit with the fusion of fruit tissues and the seed coat. A whole grain consists of three parts, namely bran, endosperm, and germ. Normally grains are grown in a cluster. Whole grain is enriched with vitamins, minerals, and protein. Carbohydrate is the major nutrient in the refined grain. Grains are broadly cultivated as a staple food crops. Food part of the grain is the fruit. Therefore, grains are harvested for food. Most of the grains belong to the family Graminae.
Seed
The general meaning of seed is “anything that can be sown”. Seed is an embryonic plant, which is covered with a seed coat. There are three main parts in a seed. They are seed coat, endosperm, and embryo. Growth of a seed starts from the flower at the reproduction cycle. Integument of the ovule of the flower becomes the seed coat and the zygote (the part developed after the fertilization) is differentiated in to endosperm and embryo. Endosperm is the part, which contains food for the development of the embryo. Endosperm and embryo are the edible part of the seed. Seeds are used for reproduction of the plant. Conifer and flowering plants are the two major groups of plants that produce seeds. There are two main divisions of seeds. They are dicots and monocots. Functions of a seed are providing nutrients to the embryo, dispersal of the seed, and seed dormancy.
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What is the difference between Grain and Seed? • Diversity of seed is comparatively higher than grain. • A Seed is an embryonic plant, which is covered with a seed coat, and grain is an edible fruit, which comprises a fusion of seed coat and tissues of the fruit. • The cover of the seed is called seed coat, and the cover of the grain is bran, which includes tissues of fruit and the seed coat. • Parts of a grain include bran, endosperm and germ, and parts of a seed include seed coat, endosperm and embryo. Integument of ovule becomes the seed coat and zygotes becomes embryo. Embryo is the most important part of the seed. • Seed provides food from embryo particle, and grain provides food from fruit part. • Functions of a seed are providing nutrients to the embryo, dispersal of the seed, and seed dormancy. • Comparatively, seeds have a long life span than grains. • All most all the grains are edible, but not all seeds are edible.
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