Cereals are grasses (members of the monocot family Poaceae, also known as Gramineae) 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; 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.
{| valign="top" | class="wikitable" ! rowspan=2 | Grain ! colspan=4 nowrap | Worldwide production (millions (106) of metric tons) ! rowspan=2 | Notes |- ! 2007 !! 2006 !! 2005 !! 1961 |- | Maize | align="center" | 792 | align="center" | 695 | align="center" | 713 | align="center" | 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 | align="center" | 659 | align="center" | 635 | align="center" | 631 | align="center" | 285 | The primary cereal of tropical and some temperate regions |- | Wheat | align="center" | 606 | align="center" | 605 | align="center" | 629 | align="center" | 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 | align="center" | 133 | align="center" | 139 | align="center" | 141 | align="center" | 72 | Grown for malting and livestock on land too poor or too cold for wheat |- | Sorghum | align="center" | 63 | align="center" | 57 | align="center" | 59 | align="center" | 41 | Important staple food in Asia and Africa and popular worldwide for livestock |- | Millet | align="center" | 34 | align="center" | 32 | align="center" | 31 | align="center" | 26 | A group of similar but distinct cereals that form an important staple food in Asia and Africa. |- | Oats | align="center" | 25 | align="center" | 23 | align="center" | 24 | align="center" | 50 | Formerly the staple food of Scotland and popular worldwide as a winter breakfast food and livestock feed |- | Rye | align="center" | 15 | align="center" | 13 | align="center" | 15 | align="center" | 35 | Important in cold climates |- | Triticale | align="center" | 12 | align="center" | 11 | align="center" | 13 | align="center" | 12 | Hybrid of wheat and rye, grown similarly to rye |- | Fonio | align="center" | 0.37 | align="center" | 0.38 | align="center" | 0.36 | align="center" | 0.18 | Several varieties of which are grown as food crops in Africa |- | Buckwheat | align="center" | 2.0 | align="center" | 2.4 | align="center" | 2.1 | align="center" | 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 |- | Quinoa | align="center" | 0.06 | align="center" | 0.06 | align="center" | 0.06 | align="center" | 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, 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:
Several other species of wheat have also been domesticated, some very early in the history of agriculture:
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.
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.
Category:Crops Category:Vegan cuisine Category:Vegetarian cuisine
af:Graan am:እህል ang:Corn ar:حبوب an:Cerial az:Taxıl be:Збожжавыя культуры be-x-old:Збожжа bar:Droad bo:འབྲུ་རིགས། bs:Žitarice br:Ed bg:Зърнено-житни култури ca:Cereal cv:Кĕрпе cs:Obilniny cy:Grawn da:Korn de:Getreide et:Teravili el:Δημητριακά myv:Сюрот (тикшеть) es:Cereal eo:Greno eu:Zereal fa:غلات fr:Céréale fy:Nôt gl:Cereal gan:穀 ko:곡물 hi:खाद्यान्न hr:Žitarice id:Serealia is:Korn it:Cereali he:דגנים csb:Zbòzé kk:Астық тұқымдастар - бағалы азықтық өсімдіктер sw:Nafaka lbe:Къама la:Frumentum lv:Labība lt:Javai jbo:gurni hu:Gabona mk:Жито ml:സിറിയൽ ms:Bijirin nl:Graan ja:穀物 no:Korn nn:Korn oc:Cereala pnb:دانے دار فصلاں pl:Zboża pt:Cereal ro:Cereale qu:Riwi ru:Зерновые культуры sah:Бурдук үүнээйилэр scn:Ciriali simple:Grain sk:Obilniny sl:Žito sr:Житарице sh:Žitarice fi:Vilja sv:Sädesslag tl:Angkak ta:தானியம் th:ธัญพืช tr:Tahıl uk:Зернові культури vi:Cây lương thực war:Grano zh-yue:穀物 bat-smg:Javā zh:粮食This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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