File:Aspirated, intrabronchial seed (50707288111).jpg

Seen here is part of an aspirated seed that lodged in a bronchus causing bronchial obstruction. The identity of this seed is unknown but it could be a peanut, bean, lentil, etc. This seed consists almost entirely of seed-derived storage cells with an outer layer of cuboidal cells called the aleurone layer.

The terminology that has been for what we now recognize as seed-derived storage cells is confusing. Incorrect terms such as legume, lentil, pulse and starch granule have been used. The human diet contains seeds such as lentils, peas, beans, corn kernels and many others. Mature seeds contain an embryo and storage cells; endosperm and/or cotyledon cells. The storage cells provide nutrition to the embryo; they contain starch, protein, and lipid granules in varying amounts. Plants that produce seeds with 1 cotyledon are monocots; those with 2 cotyledons are dicots. The main source of nutrition for the embryo in monocots (corn, coconut, grains, etc.) is generally from endosperm cells, and from cotyledon cells (peas, beans, legumes, etc.) in dicots. These 2 cell types are usually difficult to distinguish based on their H&E morphology unless the seed of origin is known. However, distinguishing between them is of no practical significance for pathologists.

According to the Food & Agricultural Organization of the UN ,the term "pulses" is limited to leguminous plants harvested solely for dry grain, thereby excluding crops harvested green for food (green peas, green beans, etc.) which are classified as vegetable crops. Also excluded are those crops used mainly for oil extraction (e.g. soy beans and ground nuts) and leguminous crops (e.g. seeds of clover and alfalfa) that are used exclusively for sowing purposes. 

Granulomatous reactions to seed-derived storage cells are frequently referred to as a "pulse granulomas"; this is a misnomer.