One of the most unique quirks in the culinary world is that some of the most popular nuts in the world are not actually nuts.

Mixed nuts are a popular go-to snack for many people, and have become increasingly popular as a healthy, nutritious whole food to either eat on the go or add to various meals.

However, the technical botanical definition of a nut requires that it be a single seed that does not open by itself when it is ripe, such as an acorn or a hazelnut.

This means that despite being sold as nuts and sometimes even explicitly called nuts, most of the world’s most popular nuts are typically something else. Here are some of the biggest examples.

Peanuts

The peanut is one of the most popular ‘nuts’ in the world, but if you have ever had peanuts in their shells, you might have noticed that you often get more than one actual seed when you crack it open.

In fact, the peanut is a legume, similar to beans, lentils, tamarind and chickpeas, which also explains its nutritional value, as most legumes are similarly packed full of nutrients.

Pistachio

The popularity of the pistachio is in part the active way that most people eat them, as you have to pull apart the external shell to enjoy the nut within.

Technically, the pistachio is a drupe, otherwise known as a stone fruit. Unlike most stone fruits, however, where there is a fleshy outer layer and an inedible seed in the middle such as with plums and peaches, a pistachio instead has a hard outer shell that suddenly split open when it is ripe.

There are a lot of ‘nuts’ that are actually drupes, including the pecan, the coconut, the cashew, the almond and the walnut.

Macadamia Nut

The fruit of the macadamia tree is so very close to being classified as a nut, but the hard shell of the fruit can often contain two seeds and needs to be broken apart, disqualifying it from being classified as a nut.