The word cereal means "that which is carried". This refers to the grains of grasses.1a) The grain is therefore a fruit, not a seed, and its outer shell is the fruit skin.
The seedling is located at the lower end of the grain spine. Although this only accounts for a fraction of the grain weight, it already contains all the root and shoot systems for a new cereal plant. According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations), maize, wheat and rice accounted for over 90% of global grain production in 2021.2)
In addition to its function as food, grain is also processed into animal feed and used for energy production and industrial purposes. In Germany, for example, around 54% of grain was used for animal feed and 9.5% for energy in the 2021/22 marketing year. By comparison, only around 20% of grain was used as animal feed worldwide on average during this period, compared to around 61% in the EU. Thanks to advances in crop cultivation, access to improved inputs and successes in plant breeding, it has been possible to triple to quadruple grain yields in the last 50 years.3) This development was necessary in order to meet the increased food requirements of a growing world population while arable land remained the same or shrank. On the other hand, it was also possible to meet the growing demand for grain, which is required in the form of biogas or bioethanol for energy production.
In order to ensure seed quality and protect the intellectual property of plant varieties, variety offices (for example the CPVO in the EU) manage so-called variety lists with the characteristics of all authorised crops. This makes it possible today to select suitable plant varieties for a wide range of climatic conditions that promise high and stable yields. However, this focus on yield means that of the approximately 75,000 higher* edible plants on earth, only around 160 species are produced on a large scale. And of these, 20 plant species are cultivated so intensively that they provide around 90% of the world's food. More than 60% of the global calorie supply is provided by wheat, rice, maize, potato, sweet potato and cassava, i.e. only 6 plant species.4a)
Let us now briefly look at the three main types of grain.
The original forms of durum wheat are wild emmer and wild einkorn, while soft wheat is spelt. These wheat ancestors are native to the Eurasian region, but today wheat is cultivated in the temperate zones of all continents; ideally in regions with heavy, nutrient-rich soils that have a high water-binding capacity.4b) There are spring and winter wheat varieties, but both are harvested in summer. The main growing regions in 2021 were China, India and Russia.2)
Wheat is used in the human diet as flour or semolina for baked goods and pasta, for example. Wheat starch is used as a binding and thickening agent for warm liquids such as sauces or soups. Wheat bran, on the other hand, is often used as animal feed.
Rice is a panicle grass and is thought to have originated in China around 14,000-15,000 years ago. As rice cultivation requires hot temperatures and a lot of water, around 90% of the world's harvest still comes from regions in Asia with a favourable climate.1b) According to the FAO, the main rice-producing countries in 2021 were China, India and Bangladesh.2) In Europe, the Po Valley in Italy is known for its rice cultivation.
A distinction is made between long, medium and round grain rice, which are processed into paddy rice, brown rice or white rice in husking and polishing processes. Rice is a basic foodstuff for the majority of people and is either eaten cooked or processed into meals in the form of flour or flakes.
In the past, maize was only cultivated in more southerly regions an probably originated in Mexico around 3,000 BC. Today, there are around 50,000 different varieties of maize, which are adapted to different climatic conditions an enable maize to be grown on all continents. According to the FAO, the main producing countries in 2021 were the USA, China and Brazil.2)
In addition to dent corn, which is used exclusively as animal feed in the USA, there are also hard corn, soft corn, pointed corn, waxy corn and sweet corn. The last of these is eaten worldwide as a vegetable, either cooked or raw, or processed into corn semolina (polenta), cornflakes, popcorn, cornflour and other products.2)
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Our next article is about pulses.
Quellenangaben:
1) Cf. Rimbach, G., Nagursky, J., Erbersdobler H. F., 2015: Lebensmittel-Warenkunde für Einsteiger, 2nd Edition, a) Page 123, b) Page 126, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, ISBN: 978-3-662-46280-5
2) Cf. FAO, 2022: Agricultural production statistics 2000-2021, FAOSTAT Analytical Brief 60, taken from the internet on 16.04.2024, https://www.fao.org/3/cc3751en/cc3751en.pdf, ISSN 2709-0078 [Online]
3) Cf. BLE, 2023: Bericht zur Markt- und Versorgungslage Getreide 2022, taken from the internet on 19.04.2024, https://www.ble.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/BZL/Daten-Berichte/Getreide_Getreideerzeugnisse/2023BerichtGetreide.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=2
4) fC. Lieberei, R., Reisdorff, C., 2012: Nutzpflanzen, 8th Edition, a) Page 3 ff. b) Page 71 f., Georg Thieme Verlag KG, Stuttgart, ISBN: 978-3-13-530408-3
* Higher plants have three basic organs: leaf, shoot and root. Lower plants are, for example, algae and lichens.