TheHermit: yarfed some more plant stuff

2025-05-08T02:09:47Z

yarfed some more plant stuff

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A '''cereal''' '''crop''' is a [[Grasses|grass]] [[Cultivation|cultivated]] for its [[edible]] [[grain]]. Cereals are the world's largest [[crops]], and are therefore [[staple foods]]. They include [[rice]], [[wheat]], [[rye]], [[Oat|oats]], [[barley]], [[millet]], and [[maize]]. Edible grains from other [[plant families]], such as [[buckwheat]] and [[quinoa]], are [[Pseudocereals|pseudo-cereals]]. Most cereals are [[Annual|annuals]], producing one crop from each planting, though rice is sometimes grown as a [[perennial]]. [[Winter]] [[varieties]] are [[Hardy plants|hardy]] enough to be planted in the [[autumn]], becoming [[dormant]] in the winter, and harvested in [[spring]] or early [[summer]]; spring varieties are planted in spring and harvested in late summer.

Cereals were [[Domestication|domesticated]] in the [[Neolithic Era]] around 8,000 years ago. Different species were domesticated in different parts of the world, in turn creating a rich, diverse variety of cereal crops found all over. One of the main [[Pillars of Culture]] is [[food]], and the traditions around growing, preparing, and sharing it. Cereal and pseudo-cereals being staples foods means that they have had a huge impact on [[culture]], and their diversity shows in all of the different ways we prepare them.

From [[tortillas]] to [[sourdough]] to the cereal boxes we find on grocery store shelves, we can see how these crops impact us. Cereals were chosen as staples because of their diverse nature and ability to create high starch food. Not only are they high in starch, they're yummy too. And so, they became staples.

Plants - like people - are diverse in nature. The wheat that was grown in Italy 500 years ago was, in fact, wheat, but it was different than the wheat that was grown in France. And so how they prepared their wheat and what they turned it into was unique in its own way, and for a variety of reasons. Diversity is like a fractal - the more you look at it, the more you see.

Before globalization, when the world felt much larger, and distant places were not so easy to get to, if one traveled around the world one would see that there were different types of plants - and therefore food - found all over the place. Some plants one would only see in that place, and others would look quite familiar, albeit different in their own way.

Wheat and barley were originally [[European & South Asian Plant Domestication|domesticated in the Fertile Crescent;]] rice was [[Asian Plant Domestication|domesticated in East Asia]], and [[sorghum]] and millet were [[African Plant Domestication|domesticated in West Africa]]. Maize was [[North & South American Plant Domestication|domesticated by Indigenous peoples of the Americas in southern Mexico]] about 9,000 years ago.

Many species of this plant family have their own

Cereals provide food eaten directly as [[whole grains]], usually [[Cooking|cooked]], or they are [[Grinding Food|ground]] to [[flour]] and made into [[bread]], [[porridge]], or other products. Cereals have a high [[starch]] content, enabling them to be [[Fermentation|fermented]] into [[alcoholic drinks]] such as [[beer]]. Cereal [[farming]] has a substantial environmental impact, and is often produced in high-intensity [[monocultures]]. The environmental harms can be mitigated by [[Sustainability|sustainable]] practices which reduce the impact on [[Soils|soil]] and improve [[biodiversity]], such as [[no-till farming]] and [[intercropping]]. <ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cereal

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== Some Cereal Crops & Pseudo-Cereal Crops ==

* Barley
* Oats
* Wheat
* Sorghum
* Maize (Corn)
* Millet
* Rice
* Rye
* Quinoa
* Triticale
* Fonio
* Buckewheat
* Teff
* Wild Rice
* Amaranth
* Einkorn
* Durum Wheat

== Effects on the Environment ==
Cereal production has a substantial impact on the environment. [[Tilling|Tillage]] can lead to [[soil erosion]] and increased [[runoff]]. [[Irrigation]] consumes large quantities of water; its extraction from [[lakes]], [[rivers]], or [[aquifers]] may have multiple environmental effects, such as lowering the [[water table]] and cause [[salination]] of aquifers. [[Fertilizer]] production contributes to [[global warming]], and its use can lead to [[pollution]] and [[eutrophication]] of waterways. [[Arable farming]] uses large amounts of [[fossil fuel]], releasing [[greenhouse gases]] which contribute to global warming. [[Pesticide]] usage can cause harm to [[wildlife]], such as to [[bees]].

Some of the impacts of growing cereals can be mitigated by changing production practices. Tillage can be reduced by [[no-till farming]], such as by [[direct drilling]] of cereal seeds, or by developing and planting [[perennial]] crop varieties so that annual tilling is not required. Rice can be grown as a [[ratoon crop]]; and other researchers are exploring perennial cool-season cereals, such as [[kernza]], being developed in the US.

Fertilizer and pesticide usage may be reduced in some [[polycultures]], growing several crops in a single field at the same time. Fossil fuel-based [[nitrogen fertilizer]] usage can be reduced by [[intercropping]] cereals with [[legumes]] which [[Nitrogen Fixation|fix nitrogen]]. Greenhouse gas emissions may be cut further by more efficient irrigation or by water harvesting methods like [[contour trenching]] that reduce the need for irrigation, and by [[breeding]] new crop varieties.

== Uses ==

=== Direct consumption ===
Some cereals such as rice require little [[Food Preperation|preparation]] before human consumption. For example, to make plain cooked rice, raw [[milled rice]] is washed and boiled. Foods such as [[porridge]] and [[muesli]] may be made largely of [[whole cereals]], especially oats, whereas commercial breakfast cereals such as [[granola]] may be highly [[Processed Food|processed]] and combined with [[sugars]], [[oils]], and other products.

=== Flour-based foods ===
Main article: [[Flour]]

Cereals can be ground to make flour. [[Wheat flour]] is the main ingredient of [[bread]] and [[pasta]]. [[Maize flour]] has been important in [[Mesoamerica]] since ancient times, with foods such as Mexican [[tortillas]] and [[tamales]]. [[Rye flour]] is a constituent of bread in central and northern Europe, while [[rice flour]] is common in Asia.

A cereal grain consists of starchy [[endosperm]], [[germ]], and [[bran]]. [[Wholemeal flour]] contains all of these; [[white flour]] is without some or all of the germ or bran.

=== Alcohol ===
Further information: [[Beer]] and [[Ethanol]] [[fermentation]]

Because cereals have a high starch content, they are often used to make industrial alcohol and [[alcoholic drinks]] by [[fermentation]]. For instance, beer is produced by [[brewing]] and fermenting starch, mainly from cereal grains—most commonly [[malted barley]]. [[Rice wine]]<nowiki/>s such as Japanese [[sake]] are brewed in Asia; a fermented rice and honey wine was made in China some 9,000 years ago.

=== Animal feed ===
Further information: [[Animal feed]]

Cereals and their related [[byproducts]] such as [[hay]] are routinely fed to [[farm animals]]. Common cereals as animal food include maize, barley, wheat, and oats. Moist grains may be treated chemically or made into [[silage]]; mechanically flattened or crimped, and kept in airtight storage until used; or stored dry with a moisture content of less than 14%. Commercially, grains are often combined with other materials and formed into feed pellets.

== Nutrition ==

=== Whole-grain and processed ===
As whole grains, cereals provide [[carbohydrates]], polyunsaturated [[fats]], [[protein]], [[vitamins]], and [[minerals]]. When processed by the removal of the bran and germ, all that remains is the starchy endosperm.

=== Amino acid balance ===
Further information: Complete protein and Protein combining

Some cereals are deficient in the essential [[amino acid]] [[lysine]], obliging [[vegetarian]] cultures to combine their [[diet]] of cereal grains with [[legumes]] to obtain a balanced diet. Many legumes, however, 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. Such combinations include [[dal]] ([[lentils]]) with rice by South Indians and Bengalis, [[beans]] with maize tortillas, [[tofu]] with rice, and [[peanut butter]] with wholegrain wheat bread (as sandwiches) in several other cultures, including the Americas. For feeding animals, the amount of crude protein measured in grains is expressed as grain crude protein concentration.

Cereal crops - Revision history

TheHermit: yarfed some more plant stuff