Dictionary:

rye¹

  (rī)

1. A cereal grass (Secale cereale) widely cultivated for its grain.
2. The grain of this plant, used in making flour and whiskey and for livestock feed.
3. Whiskey made from the grains of this plant.

[Middle English, from Old English ryge.]

A Gypsy man.

[Romany rai, from Sanskrit rājā, king. See rajah.]

A winter-hardy and drought-resistant cereal plant, Secale cereale, in the grass family (Graminae). It resembles wheat, with which it intercrosses to a limited extent. Rye is propagated almost completely by cross-pollination. The inflorescence is a spike or ear (see illustration). Spikelets are arranged flatwise against a zigzag rachis; they usually have two flowers, enclosed by a lemma and palea with two adjacent glumes. The young florets contain three stamens and a pistil. The fertilized pistil develops into a naked grain, or kernel, that is easily threshed. There are several recognized species of Secale, most of which have shattering spikes and small kernels. There are both perennial and winter-annual species of rye, with winter forms being favored over spring types for production. The only commercially cultivated species is the nonshattering S. cereale. See also Cyperales; Grass crops; Wheat.

Rye spikes or ears.

Rye is more important in Europe and Asia than in the Western Hemisphere. Russia is the leading world producer, followed by Poland and Germany. Canada and Argentina produce significant amounts, and Switzerland and northwest Europe have high yields. Rye production in the United States is mostly in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Georgia.

Rye grain is used for animal feed, human food, and production of spirits. Ground rye is mixed with other feeds for livestock. It is often fall-sown to provide soil cover and pasturage for livestock. Egg yolks of chickens and butter from cows fed on rye have a rich yellow color. See also Distilled spirits.

Compared to other small grains, rye has a fewer number of cultivars (agricultural varieties). Short-strawed types are gaining favor. Plant and kernel characteristics of rye are variable, partly because of cross-pollination. Height may range from 4 to 6 ft (120 to 180 cm) under moderately fertile conditions. Kernel color may be amber, gray, green, blue, brown, or black.

Tetraploid forms, whose chromosome number has been doubled, are available. Tetraploid wheat and rye have been hybridized and chromosomes doubled to form Triticales, which is increasing in usage. See also Breeding (plant); Grain crops.

Rye grain is milled into flour in a manner similar to that used for wheat flour. Variations are made based on the compositional and structural differences between these grains. Rye bread production requires blending of rye flours with wheat flours to provide sufficient dough strength. Specialty varieties of rye breads are classified according to ethnic origins or as sweet or sour doughs. Sour rye breads may be developed from natural lactic fermentations or through the incorporation of cultured milk. Swedish rye crisp breads are generally prepared from whole ground meal. See also Food engineering.

Grain of Secale cereale, the predominant cereal in some parts of Europe; very hardy and withstands adverse conditions better than wheat. Rye flour is dark and the dough lacks elasticity; rye bread is usually made with sour dough rather than yeast. See also bread, rye; crispbreads; ergot; ergotism; pumpernickel.

For more information on rye, visit Britannica.com.

The cereal plant Secale cereale, and its nutritious seed. May be infected with claviceps purpurea and cause poisoning.

• r. ergot — see rye ergot.

Rye
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Poales Family: Poaceae Subfamily: Pooideae Tribe: Triticeae Genus: Secale Species: S. cereale
Binomial name
Secale cereale M.Bieb.

Rye (Secale cereale) is a grass grown extensively as a grain and forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskies, 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 is a cereal and should not be confused with Ryegrass which is used for lawns, pasture, and hay for livestock.

History

The early history of rye is unclear. The wild ancestor of rye has not been identified with certainty, but is one of a number of species that grow wild in central and eastern Turkey, and adjacent areas. Domesticated rye occurs in small quantities at a number of Neolithic sites in Turkey, such as PPNB Can Hasan III, but is otherwise virtually absent from the archaeological record until the Bronze Age of central Europe, c. 1800-1500 BC.^[1] It is possible that rye travelled west from Turkey as a minor admixture in wheat, and was only later cultivated in its own right. Although archeological evidence of this grain have been found in Roman contexts along the Rhine Danube and in the British Isles, Pliny the Elder is dismissive of rye, writing that it "is a very poor food and only serves to avert starvation" and wheat is mixed into it "to mitigate its bitter taste, and even then is most unpleasant to the stomach" (N.H. 18.40).

Since the Middle Ages, rye has been widely cultivated in Central and Eastern Europe and is the main bread cereal in most areas east of the French-German border and north of Hungary.

Claims of much earlier cultivation of rye, at the Epipalaeolithic site of Tell Abu Hureyra in the Euphrates valley of northern Syria, remain controversial. Critics point to inconsistencies in the radiocarbon dates, and identifications based solely on grain, rather than on chaff.

Agronomy

wild rye

Rye, alone or overseeded, is planted as a livestock forage or harvested for hay. It is highly tolerant of soil acidity and is more tolerant of dry and cool conditions than wheat, though not as tolerant of cold as barley. In Turkey, rye is often grown as an admixture in wheat crops. It is appreciated for the flavour it brings to bread, as well as its ability to compensate for wheat's reduced yields in hard years.

The flame moth, rustic shoulder-knot and turnip moth are among the species of Lepidoptera whose larvae feed on rye.

Production and consumption statistics

Top Ten Wheat Producers — 2005 (million metric ton)
Russia	3,6
Poland	3,4
Germany	2,8
Belarus	1,2
Ukraine	1,1
China	0,6
Canada	0,4
Turkey	0,3
United States	0,2
Austria	0,2
World Total	13,3
Source: UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO)[2]

Rye is grown primarily in Eastern, Central and Northern Europe. Main rye belt stretches from northern Germany through Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia into central and northern Russia. Rye is also grown in North America (Canada and the USA), in South America (Argentina), in Turkey, in Kazakstan and in northern China.

Production levels of rye are falling in most of the producing nations due to falling demand. For instance, production of rye in Russia fell from 13.9 million tons in 1992 to just 3,4 m t in 2005. Corresponding figures for other countries are as follows: Poland - 5,9 m t in 1992 and 3.4 m t in 2005; Germany - 3,3 m t & 2,8 m t; Belarus - 3,1 m t & 1,2 m t; China - 1,7 m t & 0,6 m t; Kazakhstan - 0,6 m t & 0,02 m t.

Most of rye is consumed locally, and is exported only to neighbouring counties, but not worldwide.

Diseases

Main article: List of rye diseases

Rye is highly susceptible to the ergot fungus. Consumption of ergot-infected rye by humans and animals results in a serious medical condition known as ergotism. Ergotism can cause both physical and mental harm, including convulsions, miscarriage, necrosis of digits, and hallucinations. Historically, damp northern countries that have depended on rye as a staple crop were subject to periodic epidemics of this condition.

Uses

Rye output in 2005

A rye field in Russia, as depicted by Ivan Shishkin in 1878.

Rye bread, including pumpernickel, is a widely eaten food in Northern and Eastern Europe. Rye is also used to make the familiar crisp bread. Rye flour has a lower gluten content than wheat flour, and contains a higher proportion of soluble fiber.

Some other uses of rye include rye whiskey and use as an alternative medicine in a liquid form, known as rye extract. Often marketed as Oralmat, rye extract is a liquid obtained from rye and similar to that extracted from wheatgrass. Its benefits are said to include a strengthened immune system, increased energy levels and relief from allergies, but there is no clinical evidence for its efficacy.

Rye straw is used to make corn dollies.

See also

• Ergot and ergotism
• Rye beer
• Rye whisky

References

1. ^ Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, Domestication of plants in the Old World, third edition (Oxford: University Press, 2000), p. 75
2. ^ [[1]]

• Secale cereale (TSN 42089). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on September 22 2002.

• Multilingual taxonomic information from the University of Melbourne

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Secale cereale

• Gordon Hillmann: New evidence of Lateglacial cereal cultivation at Abu Hureyra on the Euphrates, in: The Holocene 11/4 (July 2001), p. 383-393.
• Growing Rye hosted by the UNT Government Documents Department

Cereals and pseudocereals
Amaranth · Barley · Buckwheat · Fonio · Job's Tears · Kañiwa · Maize (Corn) · Millet · Oat · Quinoa · Rice · Rye · Sorghum · Spelt · Triticale · Teff · Wild rice · Wheat

bat-smg:Rogē

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Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - [bot.] rug

idioms:

• rye bread    rugbrød
• rye whisky    whisky

2.
n. - sigøjner

Nederlands (Dutch)
rogge

Français (French)
1.
n. - (Agric, Culin) seigle

idioms:

• rye bread    pain de seigle
• rye whisky    whisky à base de seigle

2.
n. - Tzigane, Romani

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Roggen

idioms:

• rye bread    Roggenbrot
• rye whisky    Roggenwhisky

2.
n. - (Zigeunersprache) Herr

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (φυτολ.) σίκαλη, βρίζα, (μτφ.) ουίσκι (από σίκαλη)
adj. - από σίκαλη

idioms:

• rye bread    κριθαρόψωμο, ψωμί σικάλεως
• rye whisky    ουίσκι (από σίκαλη)

Italiano (Italian)
segale

idioms:

• rye bread    pane di segale
• rye whisky    whisky di segale

Português (Portuguese)
n. - centeio (m)

idioms:

• rye bread    pão de centeio
• rye whisky    uísque de centeio

Русский (Russian)
рожь

idioms:

• rye bread    ржаной хлеб
• rye whisky    ржаное виски

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - centeno

idioms:

• rye bread    pan de centeno
• rye whisky    whisky de centeno

2.
n. - gitano

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - råg
adj. - råg-

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
裸麦, 黑麦, 裸麦面包, 黑面包, 裸麦威士忌酒

idioms:

• rye bread    黑面包
• rye whisky    黑麦威士忌

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 裸麥, 黑麥, 裸麥麵包, 黑麵包, 裸麥威士忌酒

idioms:

• rye bread    黑麵包
• rye whisky    黑麥威士忌

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 귀리, 호밀의 씨

2.
n. - 집시

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ライ麦, ブレンドウイスキー, 紳士

idioms:

• rye bread    ライ麦パン, 黒パン
• rye whisky    ライウィスキー

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الجاودار ( نبات), سيد غجري, نوع من الشعير (صفه) جاوداري‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮שיפון, לחם שיפון, קמח שיפון, ויסקי שיפון‬
n. - ‮צועני‬

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