Joshua Miller

Mass Communications

lhucrow@hotmail.com

Welcome to my web site. I hope that you find it enjoyable and informative.

I designed his web site was to inform you  about cereal grains and forage grasses. It discusses the different types, their structure, a brief history, and the importance of them to society.     

    First off let find out what cereal grains and forage grasses are. Both are members of the grass family so I am first going to talk about the structure of these plants.

To under stand Grains and Forage grasses you must start with their structure.

They have a fibrous root system and lack a dominant taproot. Some grasses have one or a few major stems, called culms, that produce sequential branches as they grow.  Other branch only at the base, producing erect stems, called tillers. the leaves of grasses consist of a lower part, the sheath and an upper part, called the blade. where the base and the sheath meet is called the node. the stem is solid. the section between two nodes, or internode, is hollow. Grasses can reproduce in a variety of ways. Many species have rhizomes that grow underground and form clones. other have stolons that grow along the soil and produce clones. This growth permits the rapid spread of grasses.

 The floral structure of grasses are highly specialized. Most grass flowers have both male an female parts.  Each consist of a few to many spikelets which are flowering branches with one or more florets. Florets are composed of two bract that enclose a minute flower. the Brace closest to the floret is the palea the next one the lemma. the tip of the lemma can extend beyond the body of the bract, forming a structure called an awn that aids in dispersal.         

http://ukcrop.net/grass.html

Forage grasses are all around almost any kind of grass you can think of can be considered as a forage grass. most are not use as food for humans, but they are very important to humankind.  Their most common use is as feed for livestock. 

Humans have needed forage grasses ever sense we have domesticated animals. Many nomadic societies are based on the search for grassland suited for the grassing of their flocks. Forage grasses are still very important as livestock feed all over the world and without them we could not sustain society. 

Forage grasses are also important for the production of crops used by humans. By sowing grasses in a field farmers can let their fields rest before they plant a crop like corn or wheat. Forage grass help the soil to become nutrient again and also helps prevent soil erosion and increase soil drainage.

 There are almost 10,000 species of forage grass in the world so I can't list them all . Here is a small list of grasses I found.

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/cropmap/indiana/crop/forage.html        

Scientist are working on the Genetic Manipulation of Forage Grass. The main aspects of the program include: establishment of efficient plant regeneration and genetic transformation systems for different forage species; cloning of potentially useful agronomical genes and promoters; and generation and characterization of transgenic forage plants with improved agronomic characteristics. this would mean improvement of forage quality, drought tolerance, phosphate uptake and forage digestibility, especially when plants mature. Drought tolerance is a major target of improvement for cool season perennial grasses in the southern Great Plains. Drought stress on perennial forages is a regular feature in this region. Improving plant phosphate uptake may have an impact on forage production, since phosphate is immobile in soil and very often deficient.

http://www.foodsubs.com/FGGrains.html

The definition of grains:  Grains are seeds or the seed-like fruits of plants, particularly members of the grass family.

The name cereal comes from the Roman goddess of agriculture, Ceres. Many experts say that cereal grains are a prerequisite for civilization. they were the first crop to be cultivated, and the failure of cereal grain crops were devastating to many past cultures and trouble modern economies. So as you can see they are very important to society.

Their is a difference between grains and cereal grains. cereal grains are edible grains so all cereals are grains. Humans have shaped the characteristics of these once wild grasses though artificial selection  to exaggerate the characteristics most useful to society.

Now I am going to talk about specific cereal grains one by one.       

1.Barley

The Oldest Cereal, barley was cultivated at least as early as 7,000 B.C.

Native to southwest Asia, cultivated barley has been found in archaeological ruins on the floodplains of the Euphrates River, dating to possibly 8,000 B.C.

Cultivation of barley spread into early Mesopotamia, the Abyssinian Basin, eastward to Ethiopia, and westward to Tibet, from where it entered China by about 3500 B.C.

Barley was also very important in ancient Greece.

Barley is resistant to drought, quite cold-hardy, and tolerant of inferior soils. Because of these traits, barley is grown in all but very humid, hot regions.

In ancient times it is believed barley was ground and made into pastes, or boiled into porridges. It is also know that it was made into breads.

Barley once soaked and dried, then remixed with water is highly susceptible to fermentation, and is therefore part of the brewing of beer.,     

2.Wheat

Wheat is the most widely cultivated cereal in the world leading to the name The Staff of Life..

Domesticated wheat originated in the Near East around 7000 B.C.. Wild species are still found (and gathered) in northern Iraq, Iran, and Turkey.

Cultivated as early as 6,500 to 7,000 B.C. Originally less popular than barley, by 2000 B.C. wheat had become the dominant cereal in the Mediterranean area.

Wheat has undergone several changes since its cultivation. Though a natural mutation wild wheat changed into what became know as einkorn (one grain). then einkorn wheat hybridized naturally with other wheat species. the changes it has undergone has left us with the wheat we use today.

3. Rye

Rye began as a weed in wheat and barley fields. Instead of fighting the "weed", its was adopted as  cool regions. Consequently, rye is referred to as a secondary crop. Rye has hardy grain which germinates well at low temperatures. Rye also grows well in relatively dry areas. historically it was often called "poor man's wheat" because grows well where wheat does not. Like forage grasses it is often planted for animal feed and for erosion control.

4. Oats

 Oats, native to the eastern Mediterranean were last of the cereals to be domesticated.  Domestication probably occurred in Europe.  It is the major cereal grown  in temperate areas.  Until recent times oats were best known as food for horses, and other draft animals

5. Rice-

The world's most important crop, rice feeds more people worldwide than any other crop. Rice is also the only crop grown exclusively for human food

o the origins of rice are unclear China, India, Indochina all suggested as areas of origin. rice was  brought to Europe by Alexander the Great around 320 B.C. then spread across the world

there are several recognized subspecies of rice:

indica - called long-grain rice in the U.S. it is relatively dry when cooked, and the grains separate easily from one another

sativa - short grain rice which  becomes soft, slightly gluey when cooked

Rice needs large amount of water to grow well, but does not need to grow in standing water. Upland rice is grown without standing water, but requires 5 to 6.5 feet of rain per year.

 Most  rice, called paddy, is grown in standing water. Under favorable conditions, wet rice cultivation can permit almost year-round farming. The standing water rots plant material, and also harbors blue-green algae which provide fertilizer and add nitrogen.

6. Sorghum

Sorghum, an important staple food crop in Africa, South Asia, and Central America.. It is also grown in the United States, Australia, and other developed nations for animal feed. 

Sorghum, which is particularly adapted to drought prone areas, is a crop of hot, semi-arid tropical environments with 400 - 600 mm rainfall-areas that are too dry for maize. Sorghum is also found in temperate regions and at altitudes of up to 2300 meters in the tropics.

Historians believe that sorghum originated in North East Africa where a large variability in wild and cultivated species is still found today. It was probably domesticated in Ethiopia between 5000 and 7000 years ago. From there, it was distributed along trade and shipping routes around the African continent, and through the Middle East to India at least 3000 years ago. It then journeyed along the Silk Route into China. Sorghum was first taken to America through the slave trade from West Africa. It was re-introduced in the late 19th century for commercial cultivation and subsequently spread to South America and Australia.

there are four main types

grain

sweet or sorgo

Sudan grass

broomcorn or broom millet

7. Corn

Corn was the Staple of the Americas as it was the only cereal domesticated in the New World. It formed the basis of all of the New World civilizations: Maya, Aztec, Inca, Anasazi, etc.

Corn is the most efficient cereal at converting carbon dioxide and water into foodstuffs. It grows well in tropical and temperate climates. The grains easily digested, and are good nutrient source of fats, carbohydrates, proteins

Corn is made into a many things like corn starch, corn meal, corn flour, corn oil, corn syrup

Additionally the  rest of plant is used as animals forage

Origins of Corn:

For years a mystery, since no wild relative that even moderately resembled maize could be found. Charred cobs 5500 years old were found in a dry, pre-Columbian cave near Tehuacan, Mexico; the cobs were similar in appearance to some kinds of popcorn. This finding helped foster the development of the "tripartite theory" that cultivated maize developed from a wild maize which may still be indigenous to South America. Teosinte, the closest relative of maize, was thought to have arisen from a hybridization of wild maize and another grass of Tripsacum genus.More recent discovery of a new species of teosinte in southwestern Mexico has helped illuminate maize's ancestry. Corn has gone though subsequent artificial selections. The result of these selections is a conveniently packaged, high yielding food source in a plant which can no longer exist naturally.

There are six main historical types of maize:

Pod - Fruits enclosed in bracts

Dent - Apex of fruits have a dimple

Flint - Endosperm hard

Pop - Fruits small, hard, and pointed

Flour - Fruits large, endosperm soft

Sweet - Endosperm a liquid

Human are continuing  to shape gain now using science to cross breed different gains to try to provide grain with higher yields, resistant to disease, pests  and climate conditions. One example of a grain hybrid is triticale which is a cross between wheat and rye.  It  has the high yields of wheat with the hardiness of rye , and produces higher yields than either parent in marginal grain- growing areas

Cereal and Cereal Grains

So how did cereal grains become the breakfast of choice for millions of people worldwide. Well the answer can be found in the history of the town of Battle Creek Michigan. It is there where you will find the Kellogg brothers William and John. In the 1900's The Kellogg brothers devised a way to roll grains into flat flakes that were both healthy and tasty. So next time you sit down at your breakfast table you'll know who is responsible for turning cereal grains into cereal.       

1. Herbert G. Baker, 1965, Plants and civilization, Wadsworth Pub. Co., Belmont, CA.

2. CGIAR , 1998 Sorghum Research (Sept 20, 03)

< http://www.cgiar.org/research/res_sorghum.html

3. Henry Hobhouse , 1986,  Seeds of change : five plants that transformed mankind,  Harper & Row NY.

 4. Keith Johnson, 1998 Forage Grasses and Legumes (Sept 2, 03)

< http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/cropmap/indiana/crop/forage.html  

5. J.R. Short Milling Company (July 2002)Wheat and Corn facts.  Information page   

       <http://www.shortmill.com 

6.Levetin, McMahon. Plants and Society, 3rd edition. McGraw-Hill, NY

 7. Martin, Alexander, Campbell, 1951, American wildlife & plants : a guide to wildlife food habits : the use of trees, shrubs, weeds, and herbs by birds and        mammals of the United States, Dover Publications, NY.

 8. National corn growers association, NCGA web site,

       <http://www.ncga.com

9.Simpson, B.B. and Ogorzaly, M.C. 2001 Economic Botany - Plants in Our World. 3rd edition. McGraw-Hill, NY.

10.Dr. Zengyu Wang Genetic Manipulation of Forage Grasses and Legumes (Sept 10, 03)

< http://www.noble.org/Forgbiot/GeneticTransformation/