cereal
Top
(′sir·ē·əl)
(botany) Any member of the grass family (Graminae) which produces edible, starchy grains usable as food by humans and livestock. Also known as grain.
Top
Any grass yielding starchy seeds suitable for food. The most commonly cultivated cereals are wheat, rice, rye, oats, barley, corn, and sorghum. As human food, cereals are usually marketed in raw grain form or as ingredients of food products. As animal feed, they are consumed mainly by livestock and poultry, which are eventually rendered as meat, dairy, and poultry products for human consumption. They also are used industrially in the production of a wide range of substances, such as glucose, adhesives, oils, and alcohols. Measured in acres planted, wheat is the world's most widely grown cereal crop; rice is the second, but more corn is harvested than either. Grains are generally rich in carbohydrates and energy value but comparatively low in protein and naturally deficient in calcium and vitamin A. Breads are usually enriched to compensate for any nutritional deficiencies in the cereal used. Though often consumed in the areas where grown, cereal and cereal by-products are also major commodities in international trade.
For more information on cereal, visit Britannica.com.
Any member of the grass family (Gramineae) which produced edible grains usable as food by humans and livestock. Common cereals are rice, wheat, barley, oats, maize (corn), sorghum, rye, and certain millets, with corn, rice, and wheat being the most important. Developed by scientists, triticale is a new cereal derived from crossing wheat and rye and then doubling the number of chromosomes in the hybrid. Occasionally, grains from other grasses (for example, teff) are used for food. Cereals provide more food for human consumption than any other crops.
Four general groups of foods are prepared from the cereal grains. (1) Baked products, made from flour or meal, include breads, pastries, pancakes, cookies, and cakes. (2) Milled grain products, made by removing the bran and usually the germ (or embryo of the seed), include polished rice, farina, wheat flour, cornmeal, hominy, corn grits, pearled barley, semolina (for macaroni products), prepared breakfast cereals, and soup, gravy, and other thickenings. (3) Beverages such as beer and whiskey, made from fermented grain products (distilled or undistilled) and from boiled, roasted grains. (4) Whole-grain products include rolled oats, brown rice, popcorn, shredded and puffed gains, and breakfast foods.
All cereal grains have high energy value, mainly from the starch fraction but also from the fat and protein. In general, the cereals are low in protein content, although oats and certain millets are exceptions. See also Grain crops.
Top
Any grain or edible seed of the grass family which may be used as food; e.g. wheat, rice, oats, barley, rye, maize, and millet. Collectively known as corn in the UK, although in the USA corn is specifically maize. Cereals provide the largest single foodstuff in almost all diets; in some less-developed countries up to 90% of the total diet may be cereal, and in the UK bread and flour provide 25-30% of the total energy and protein of the average diet. See also flour, extraction rate.
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Top
Cereal
"Grain" redirects here. For other uses, see Grain (disambiguation).
This article is about grains in general. For breakfast cereal, see Breakfast cereal.
Cereals are grasses (members of the monocot family Poaceae, also known as Gramineae)[1] cultivated for the edible components of their grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop[citation needed]; they are therefore staple crops.
In their natural form (as in whole grain), they are a rich source of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, oils, and protein. 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. In some developing nations, grain in the form of rice, wheat, millet, or maize constitutes a majority of daily sustenance. In developed nations, cereal consumption is moderate and varied but still substantial.
The word cereal derives from Ceres, the name of the Roman goddess of harvest and agriculture.
|
Contents
|
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.
Production
The following table shows annual production of cereals, in 1961,[2] 2008, 2009, and 2010 ranked by 2010 production.[3] All but buckwheat and quinoa are true grasses (these two are pseudocereals).
| Grain | Worldwide production (millions (106) of metric tons) |
Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 1961 | ||
| Maize (corn) | 844 | 820 | 827 | 205 | A staple food of people in America, Africa, and of livestock worldwide; often called corn or Indian corn in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. A large portion of maize crops are grown for purposes other than human consumption. |
| Rice[4] | 672 | 685 | 689 | 285 | The primary cereal of tropical and some temperate regions |
| Wheat | 651 | 687 | 683 | 222 | The primary cereal of temperate regions. It has a worldwide consumption but it is a staple food of North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. |
| Barley | 123 | 152 | 155 | 72 | Grown for malting and livestock on land too poor or too cold for wheat |
| Sorghum | 56 | 56 | 66 | 41 | Important staple food in Asia and Africa and popular worldwide for livestock |
| Millet | 29 | 27 | 35 | 26 | A group of similar but distinct cereals that form an important staple food in Asia and Africa. |
| Oats | 20 | 23 | 26 | 50 | Formerly the staple food of Scotland and popular worldwide as a winter breakfast food and livestock feed |
| Triticale | 13 | 16 | 14 | 12 | Hybrid of wheat and rye, grown similarly to rye |
| Rye | 12 | 18 | 18 | 35 | Important in cold climates |
| Buckwheat | 1.5 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 2.5 | A pseudocereal, as it is a Polygonacea and not a Poaceae or Gramineae, used in Eurasia. Major uses include various pancake and groats |
| Fonio | 0.53 | 0.46 | 0.50 | 0.18 | Several varieties of which are grown as food crops in Africa |
| Quinoa | 0.07 | 0.07 | 0.06 | 0.03 | Pseudocereal, grown in the Andes |
Maize, wheat and rice together accounted for 87% of all grain production worldwide, and 43% of all food calories in 2003,[3] while the production of oats and rye have drastically fallen from their 1960s levels. Other grains that are important in some places, but that have little production globally (and are not included in FAO statistics), include:
- Teff, popular in Ethiopia but scarcely known elsewhere. This ancient grain is a staple in Ethiopia. It is high in fiber and protein. Its flour is often used to make injera. It can also be eaten as a warm breakfast cereal similar to farina with a chocolate or nutty flavor. Its flour and whole grain products can usually be found in natural foods stores.
- Wild rice, grown in small amounts in North America
- Amaranth, ancient pseudocereal, formerly a staple crop of the Aztec Empire and now widely grown in Africa
- Kañiwa, close relative of quinoa
Several other species of wheat have also been domesticated, some very early in the history of agriculture:
- Spelt, a close relative of common wheat
- Einkorn, a wheat species with a single grain
- Emmer, one of the first crops domesticated in the Fertile Crescent
- Durum, the only tetraploid species of wheat currently cultivated, used to make semolina
- Kamut, an ancient relative of durum with an unknown history
Farming
While each individual species has its own peculiarities, the cultivation of all cereal crops is similar. Most are annual plants; consequently one planting yields one harvest. Wheat, rye, triticale, oats, barley, and spelt are the "cool-season" cereals.[citation needed] These are hardy plants that grow well in moderate weather and cease to grow in hot weather (approximately 30 °C but this varies by species and variety). The "warm-season" cereals are tender and prefer hot weather. Barley and rye are the hardiest cereals, able to overwinter in the subarctic and Siberia. Many cool-season cereals are grown in the tropics. However, some are only grown in cooler highlands, where it may be possible to grow multiple crops in a year.
For a few decades, however, there has also been increasing interest in perennial grain plants. This interest developed due to advantages in erosion control, reduced need of fertiliser, and potential lowered costs to the farmer. Though research is still in early stages, The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas has been able to create a few cultivars that to produce a fairly good cropyield.[5]
Planting
The warm-season cereals are grown in tropical lowlands year-round and in temperate climates during the frost-free season. Rice is commonly grown in flooded fields, though some strains are grown on dry land. Other warm climate cereals, such as sorghum, are adapted to arid conditions.
Cool-season cereals are well-adapted to temperate climates. Most varieties of a particular species are either winter or spring types. Winter varieties are sown in the autumn, germinate and grow vegetatively, then become dormant during winter. They resume growing in the springtime and mature in late spring or early summer. This cultivation system makes optimal use of water and frees the land for another crop early in the growing season.
Winter varieties do not flower until springtime because they require vernalization: exposure to low temperature for a genetically determined length of time. Where winters are too warm for vernalization or exceed the hardiness of the crop (which varies by species and variety), farmers grow spring varieties. Spring cereals are planted in early springtime and mature later that same summer, without vernalization. Spring cereals typically require more irrigation and yield less than winter cereals.
Period
Once the cereal plants have grown their seeds, they have completed their life cycle. The plants die and become brown and dry. As soon as the parent plants and their seed kernels are reasonably dry, harvest can begin.
In developed countries, cereal crops are universally machine-harvested, typically using a combine harvester, which cuts, threshes, and winnows the grain during a single pass across the field. In developing countries, a variety of harvesting methods are in use, depending on the cost of labor, from combines to hand tools such as the scythe or cradle.
If a crop is harvested during wet weather, the grain may not dry adequately in the field to prevent spoilage during its storage. In this case, the grain is sent to a dehydrating facility, where artificial heat dries it.
In North America, farmers commonly deliver their newly harvested grain to a grain elevator, a large storage facility that consolidates the crops of many farmers. The farmer may sell the grain at the time of delivery or maintain ownership of a share of grain in the pool for later sale. Storage facilities should be protected from small grain pests, rodents and birds.
Nutritional facts
Some grains are deficient in the essential amino acid lysine. That is why a multitude of vegetarian cultures, in order to get a balanced diet, combine their diet of grains with legumes. Many legumes, on the other hand, are deficient in the essential amino acid methionine, which grains contain. Thus a combination of legumes with grains forms a well-balanced diet for vegetarians. Common examples of such combinations are dal (lentils) with rice by South Indians and Bengalis, dal with wheat in Pakistan and North India, and beans with corn tortillas, tofu with rice, and peanut butter with wheat bread (as sandwiches) in several other cultures, including Americans.[6] The amount of crude protein found in grain is measured as Grain Crude Protein Concentration.[7]
Standardization
ISO has published a series of standards regarding cereal products and these standards are covered by ICS 67.060.[8]
See also
- Chillcuring, grain ventilating process
- Food quality
- Food safety
- Food price crisis
- Pulse
- Threshing, process of loosening the edible part of cereal grain
- Winnowing, method for separating grain from chaff
- Zadoks scale
- Push–pull technology
- Post-harvest losses
References
- ^ The seeds of several other plants, such as buckwheat, are also used in the same manner as grains, but since they are not grasses, they cannot strictly be called such
- ^ 1961 is the earliest year for which FAO statistics are available.
- ^ a b "ProdSTAT". FAOSTAT. http://faostat.fao.org/site/567/DesktopDefault.aspx. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
- ^ The weight given is for paddy rice
- ^ Perennial grains being created at the Land Institute
- ^ Vogel, Steven. Prime Mover – A Natural History of Muscle. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., USA (2003), p. 301. ISBN 039332463X; ISBN 978-0393324631.
- ^ "Effects of Dietary Protein Concentration on Lactating Cows". Journal of Dairy Science 63 (2): 243. 1980. doi:10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(80)82920-1. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B9887-4YXM3ND-C&_user=10&_coverDate=02/29/1980&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1428990810&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=8c3f40102228d7dee2900a369b4872e1. Retrieved 2010-08-12.
- ^ International Organization for Standardization. "67.060: Cereals, pulses and derived products". http://www.iso.org/iso/products/standards/catalogue_ics_browse.htm?ICS1=67&ICS2=060&. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cereals |
 |
Look up cereal in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- Home Grown Cereals Authority website
- Cereal Recipes
- Cereals by the Vegetarian Society
- Lost Crops of Africa : Grains
|
|||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
McGraw-Hill Science & Technology Dictionary
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. Copyright © 2003, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1978, 1976, 1974 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
McGraw-Hill Science & Technology Encyclopedia
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
Oxford Food & Nutrition Dictionary
A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved.
Read more
