Barley

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is a plant species of the grass family Poaceae and an important cultivated grain in temperate climates.

Barley

Quotes

• ... there are over eighty recognizable and distinct botanical forms of cultivated barley, based on morphological character differences (Mansfeld, 1950). Of these, only ten have achieved any wide distribution, and three of these contribute by far the greatest proportion of the cultivated barleys of the world (Orlov, 1936).
  • G. D. H. Bell and F. G. H. Lupton, "Chapter 3. The Breeding of Barley Varieties". Barley and Malt: Biology, Biochemistry, Technology. Elsevier. 2013. pp. 45–99. ISBN 1483274233.  (quote from p. 49; edited by A. H. Cook)

• … historic sources and ancient texts report that gladiators had their own diet consisting of barley and beans, and they have been referred to as hordearii or ‘barley men’ which was reported to help with weight gain and providing subcutaneous fat that protected them from flesh wounds during fights ... Barley is commonly used as a food ingredient, as a fermentable material for beer and distilled beverages and as animal fodder. Barley is ranked fourth amongst the cereal crops behind maize, rice and wheat in terms of production, area harvested and yield over the past 20 years ... Barley has been incorporated into a variety of food products based on the potential health benefits. The β-glucans, a type of soluble fibre, in barley have been demonstrated to lower blood cholesterol ... and reduce human glycaemic response ...
  • Michelle L. Colgrave, Keren Byrne, Malcolm Blundell, and Crispin A. Howitt, (2016). "Identification of barley-specific peptide markers that persist in processed foods and are capable of detecting barley contamination by LC-MS/MS". Journal of Proteomics 147: 169–176.

• Barley was a difficult cereal grain upon which to apply transgenic technology successfully, but not more so than wheat. Major obstacles have now been overcome using direct and indirect methods of transformation, Among the numerous pioneers who produced transgenic barleys, Wan and Lemaux were first to report efficient transformation of barley that resulted in fertile, stably transformed plants (Wan and Lemaux, 1994).
  • Rosemary K. Newman and C. Walter Newman, Barley for Food and Health: Science, Technology, and Products. John Wiley & Sons. 2008. p. 41. ISBN 0470371226. 

• The fruit or caryopsis in the commoner varieties of cultivated barleys is adherent to the flowering glume and pale, and on being thrashed does not separate from the latter. Varieties termed naked barleys, however, exist, in which the caryopsis is free from the glumes and falls out of the ear as readily or more so than a grain of wheat.
  • John Percival, Agricultural botany: theoretical and practical (6th ed.). London: Duckworth & Company. 1921. p. 507.  (1st edition 1910)

• ... barley has been harvested all across North America. Its graceful seed heads are among the most beautiful of grains, as they ripen, swaying in the summer breezes. And while the crop has generally been used in brewing and as a highly nutritious animal feed, its role as one of the most delicious ingredients in a modern kitchen has been overlooked far too often.
  • Anita Stewart in the Foreword to Inglis, Pat; Whitworth, Linda (2014). Go Barley: Modern recipes for an ancient grain. Victoria, British Columbia: TouchWood Editions. ISBN 978-1-77151-051-6. 

• Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the most ancient crops, and it has played a role in the human development of agriculture, civilizations, and culture and the sciences of agronomy, physiology, genetics, breeding, malting, and brewing. It is grown and/or used around the world. For many centuries, barley has fed livestock, poultry, people, and people's spirit. Barley was among the first domesticates playing an important role during the hundreds or thousands of years of human transition from hunting and gathering to agrarian lifestyle in the "Fertile Crescent" of the Near East starting at least 10,000 years ago. ...
  Barley is best known around the world today as a feed grain and as the premier malting and brewing grain.
  • Steven Edward Ullrich, "Chapter 1. Significance, Adaptation, Production, and Trade of Barley". Barley: Production, Improvement, and Uses. Volume 12 of World Agriculture Series. John Wiley & Sons. 2010. pp. 3–13. ISBN 0470958626.  (quote from p. 3; edited by Steven E. Ullrich)

External links

• Media related to Barley on Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition of barley on Wiktionary
• "Barley" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). 1911.