Grain

History

The origin of grains goes back to the Neolithic Revolution about 10,000 years ago, when prehistoric communities started to make the transition from hunter-gatherer to farmer. Modern varieties of grains have been developed over time through mutation, selective cropping, breeding and research in biotechnology. Ancient grains, however, are said to be largely unchanged from their initial domesticated varieties.

Various forms of archaeobotanical evidence, such as carbonized and semicarbonized grains, coprolites and imprints of grains, husks or spikelets on potsherds, have been found during excavations of Neolithic sites.

Ancient grains played a role in the spiritual life of several ancient civilizations, from the Aztecs to the Greeks and Egyptians. Quinoa was called the "mother of all grains" and considered sacred by the Inca people. Amaranth was likewise considered sacred by the Aztecs, and was used as part of a religious ceremony, its cultivation being banned by Spanish colonial authorities. Farro grains are mentioned in the Old Testament.

The first reference to ancient grains as a health food was in the Daily News (New York) in 1996. Since then the popularity of ancient grains as a food has increased, and in 2011 the gluten-free food market was valued at $1.6 billion.

Because grains are small, hard and dry, they can be stored, measured, and transported more readily than can other kinds of food crops such as fresh fruits, roots and tubers. The development of grain agriculture allowed excess food to be produced and stored easily which could have led to the creation of the first temporary settlements and the division of society into classes.

This assumption that grain agriculture led to early settlements and social stratification has been challenged by James Scott in his book Against the Grain. He argues that the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to settled agrarian communities was not a voluntary choice driven by the benefits of increased food production due to the long storage potential of grains, but rather that the shift towards settlements was a coerced transformation imposed by dominant members of a society seeking to expand control over labor and resources.

Cereal and non-cereal grains

In the grass family, a grain (narrowly defined) is a caryopsis, a fruit with its wall fused on to the single seed inside, belonging to a cereal such as wheat, maize, or rice. More broadly, in agronomy and commerce, seeds or fruits from other plant families are called grains if they resemble cereal caryopses. For example, amaranth is sold as "grain amaranth", and amaranth products may be described as "whole grains". The pre-Hispanic civilizations of the Andes had grain-based food systems, but at higher elevations none of the grains belonged the cereal family. All three grains native to the Andes (kaniwa, kiwicha, and quinoa) are broad-leaved plants rather than grasses.

Cereal grains

Main article: Cereal

Many different species of cereal are cultivated for their grains.

File:Wheat-kernel nutrition.png|A wheat kernel, its composition and the nutritional values of its parts. File:Dinrêyes.jpg|Cereal grain seeds clockwise from top-left: wheat, spelt, oat, barley File:Gerstenkorrels Hordeum vulgare.jpg|Barley File:Secale cereale (roggekorrels).jpg|Rye File:Rice grains (IRRI).jpg|Rice grains by the IRRI

Warm-season cereals

• fonio
• maize (corn)
• millets (of multiple species)
• sorghum

Cool-season cereals

• barley
• oats
• rice
• rye
• spelt
• teff
• triticale
• wheat
• wild rice

Pseudocereal grains

Main article: Pseudocereal

Starchy grains from broadleaf (dicot) plant families are cultivated as nutritious alternatives to cereals. The three major pseudocereal grains are:

• amaranth (Amaranth family) also called kiwicha
• buckwheat (Smartweed family)
• quinoa (Amaranth family, formerly classified as Goosefoot family) Other grains sometimes called pseudocereals include:
• chia (Mint family)
• kañiwa --

Pulses or grain legumes

Pulses or grain legumes, members of the pea family, have a higher protein content than most other plant foods, at around 20%, while soybeans have as much as 35%. As is the case with all other whole plant foods, pulses also contain carbohydrates and fat. Common pulses include:

• chickpeas
• common beans
• common peas (garden peas)
• fava beans
• lentils
• lima beans
• lupins
• mung beans
• peanuts
• pigeon peas
• runner beans
• soybeans

Oilseed grains

Oilseed grains are grown primarily for the extraction of their edible oil. Vegetable oils provide dietary energy and some essential fatty acids. They are also used as fuel and lubricants.

Mustard family

• black mustard
• India mustard
• rapeseed (including canola)

Aster family

• safflower
• sunflower seed

Other families

• flax seed (Flax family)
• hemp seed (Hemp family)
• poppy seed (Poppy family)

Trade

Occupational safety and health

Those who handle grain at grain facilities may encounter numerous occupational hazards and exposures. Risks include grain entrapment, where workers are submerged in the grain and unable to extricate themselves; explosions caused by fine particles of grain dust, and falls.

References

References

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