Cereal

By Bharath Bhushan

Cereals

Brief history
• The first cereal grains were domesticated about 12,000 years ago by
ancient farming communities in the Fertile Crescent region. Emmer
wheat, einkorn wheat, and barley were three of the so-called
Neolithic founder crops in the development of agriculture.

Introduction
• Agricultural grasses grown for their
edible seeds are called cereals. Three
cereals – rice, wheat, and maize (corn) –
provide more than half of all calories
eaten by humans.Of all crops, 70% are
grasses.Cereals constitute the major
source of carbohydrates for humans and
perhaps the major source of protein, and
include rice in southern and eastern Asia,
maize in Central and South America, and
wheat and barley in Europe, northern
Asia and the Americas.
• Grasses are, in human terms,
perhaps the most economically
important plant family. Grasses'
economic importance stems from
several areas, including food
production, industry, and lawns.

 Pseudocereals are broadleaf plants (non-grasses) that are used in
much the same way as cereals (true cereals are grasses). Their seed
can be ground into flour and otherwise used as cereals.
 Examples of pseudocereals are amaranth, Love-lies-bleeding, red
amaranth, Prince-of-Wales-feather, quinoa, and buckwheat.

 Quinoa–the spectacular super food
that originated in the Andean
region of Peru–is NOT a grain.
Despite looking like a baby version
of rice or barley and taking the
place of various grain in recipes,
quinoa, the protein-fiber
powerhouse combo, is actually a
LEAFY PLANT.

 It is closely related to chard or spinach
in a bizarre category called
pseudocereals… The tiny grain-like
pieces which we cook are actually
SEEDS from the plant. In fact, the leafy
part of the quinoa plant is edible, too.
WOW! Don’t know when the foodie
world has been so confused and
misleading since we dubbed the
tomato as a fruit?

cereals
 Cereals, grains, or cereal grains are grasses (members of
the monocot families Poaceae or
Gramineae)cultivated for the edible components of
their grain composed of the endosperm, germ, and
bran. (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis)
 However, when refined by the removal of the bran and
germ, the remaining endosperm is mostly carbohydrate
and lacks the majority of the other nutrients.

Grains of cereal

Maize Rice Wheat Barley Sorghum (Milo)

Millet Oats Rye Triticale Fonio
[high protein
cross between
wheat and rye]

• The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds
called kernels.
• Maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable or
starch.
MAIZE • Maize constitutes an important source of
carbohydrates, protein, vitamin B, and minerals. As
an energy source, it compares favourably with root
and tuber crops, and it is similar in energy value to
dried legumes. Furthermore, it is an excellent source
of carbohydrate and is complete in nutrients
compared to other cereals.
• Maize is a good source of vitamin B and B12. Yellow
maize can provide substantial amounts of vitamin A,
and the maize germ is rich in vitamin E.
Furthermore, maize oil contains a high level of
polyunsaturated fatty acids and natural antioxidants
(Okoruwa, 1996). However, of the three major cereal
grains (wheat, maize, and rice), maize has the lowest
concentration of protein, calcium, and niacin.

RICE

• In India, there is a saying that grains of rice should be like two brothers, close but
not stuck together.
• The primary cereal of tropical and some temperate regions it is the most important
grain with regard to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one
fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by the human species.
• Comparative nutrition studies on red, black and white varieties of rice suggest that
pigments in red and black rice varieties may offer nutrition benefits. Red or black
rice consumption were found to reduce or retard the progression of
atherosclerotic plaque development, induced by dietary cholesterol, in mammals.
• White rice consumption offered no similar benefits, and the study claims this to be
due to absent antioxidants of red and black varieties of rice

wheat
• Wheat grain is a staple food used to make flour for leavened, flat and steamed
breads, biscuits, cookies, cakes, breakfast cereal, pasta, noodles, couscousand for
fermentation to make beer,other alcoholic beverages, or biofuel.
• Wheat is grown on more land area than any other commercial crop and is the
most important staple food for humans. World trade in wheat is greater than for
all other crops combined.
• The many forms of wheat are white , red wheat,purple wheat, a tetraploid species
of wheat that is rich in anti-oxidants. Other commercially minor but nutritionally-
promising species of naturally evolved wheat species include black, yellow and
blue wheat.

BARLEY
 Grown for malting and livestock on land too poor or
too cold for wheat
 It serves as a major animal fodder, a source of
fermentable material for beer and certain distilled
beverages, and as a component of various health
foods. It is used in soups and stews, and in barley
bread of various cultures.
 Barley contains eight essential amino acids.
 According to a recent study, eating whole grain
barley can regulate blood sugar (i.e. reduce blood
glucose response to a meal) for up to 10 hours
after consumption compared to white or even
whole-grain wheat

Sorghum(milo/jow
ar/jola/高粱)
 sorghum is an important food
crop, especially for
subsistence farmers. It is used
to make such foods as
couscous, sorghum
flour, porridge and molasses.
 sorghum is the most
important ingredient for the
production of distilled
beverages, such as maotai
and kaoliang.
 It is drought tolerant and
heat tolerant, and is
especially important in arid
regions.
 It is an important food crop in
Africa, Central America, and
South Asia, and is the "fifth
most important cereal crop
grown in the world"

MILLET
 A group of similar but distinct
c e r e a l s t h a t fo r m a n i m p o r t a n t
s t a p l e fo o d i n A s i a a n d A f r i c a .
 T h ey g r ow i n h a r s h e nv i r o n m e n t s
w h e r e ot h e r c r o p s d o n o t g r o w we l l .
I m p r ov e m e n t s i n p r o d u c t i o n ,
av a i l a b i l i t y, n u t r i t i o n a l c o n t e n t ,
s to r a g e a n d u t i l i z a t i o n te c h n o l o g y
fo r m i l l e t s m ay s i g n i f i c a n t l y
c o n t r i b u t e to t h e h o u s e h o l d f o o d
security and nutrition of the
inhabitants of these areas.
 Is cereal grain popularly used in
r u r a l a n d p o o r p e o p l e to c o n s u m e
as staple in the form of roti or
ot h e r fo r m s i s c a l l e d R a g i i n
Ka r n a t a k a o r N a a c h a n i e i n
Maharashtra, with the popularly
m a d e R a g i Ro t t i i n Ka n n a d a . R a g i
Mudde is a popular meal in
Southern India.

Oats
• Formerly the staple food of Scotland
and popular worldwide as a winter
breakfast food and livestock feed
• which is known by the same name
(usually in the plural, unlike other
grains). While oats are suitable for
human consumption as oatmeal and
rolled oats, one of the most common
uses is as livestock feed. Oats make up
a part of the daily diet of horses, about
20% of daily intake or smaller, and are
regularly fed to cattle as well. Oats are
also used in some brands of dog food
and chicken feed.

Important in cold climates.

{ Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some
whiskeys, some vodkas, and animal fodder. It can
also be eaten whole, either as boiled rye berries, or by
being rolled, similar to rolled oats.

Rye

Triticale

 Hybrid of wheat and
rye, grown similarly to rye.
 The primary producers of
triticale are
Poland, Germany, France, Belar
us and Australia.
 Triticale has potential in the
production of bread and other
food products, such as
cookies, pasta, pizza dough and
breakfast cereals.
 The protein content is higher
than that of wheat, although the
glutenin fraction is less.

• Fonio is the term for cultivated grains in the
Digitaria genus. These are notable in parts of West
Africa and one species in India. The grains are
very small.
• Black fonio (D. iburua) is a similar crop grown in
Nigeria, Togo, and Benin.
• In the Akposso area of Togo fonio (called ɔva) is
primarily a women's crop; it and cowpeas are used
to make a traditional dish.

Fonio

Cereal

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