The word cereal comes from the name "Cerealia" who were the holidays celebrated by the Romans in honor of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture. In this festival to the goddess granted him the best of their harvest, which is mainly what we now call cereals.

However, the importance of cereals in ancient civilizations comes from much earlier. It is known that wheat was a sacred food for the Egyptians and the Greeks based their power in wheat with barley. For the Greeks of the era's most revered goddesses Demeter - the goddess mother, he had taught men agriculture and the cultivation of wheat. North African civilizations, like the ancient Ethiopian fed especially millet, while in Asia it was rice or corn in America the main sources of food.

The use of different grains in different parts of the world responds to climatic conditions that each of these plants to thrive initially required. For example, wheat, oats or barley prefer temperate climates, and is therefore the most widely grown cereal in Europe. Maize, millet and rice warm climates need hence the prime importance in such areas. However, at present, have been found more resistant and adaptable to other types of climates. Maize, for example, initially from the warm parts of America may be planting extensively in climates much colder Atlantic.

The use of cereals is still today the food base of the cultures in development. In rich countries, many of these foods are eaten mainly in an indirect manner through the animals that feed on them, which is being increasingly seen as a process unsustainable, given the energy lost in this process . Thus, for example, have been found to produce a kilo of pork, have had to spend between 3 or 4 kilos of grain. Barley in rich countries is practically dedicated to animal consumption.

Cereals are part of most world cultures
Cereals have been important in most cultures. The photo shows a hit or sac of skin where the Scandinavian peoples kept the flour or grain to keep it in good condition and protect from moisture. (Ethnological Museum Voss. Norway)
Storing grain in good condition has been a constant concern of the different communities of the world. The discovery of fire allowed the firing of clay. In this way they could make it possible to store containers for planting seeds or eat them later during the year. It was also very important to have measures to calculate the value of cereals. The photo shows a container called "Aske" has been used in Norway to measure corn. (Ethnological Museum Voss. Norway)
Different cultures have used different tools for growing and handling of grain. In the photo on the right you can see a Norwegian screening used to separate the wheat from the chaff. It is made with birch wood trim and a woven plant. (Ethnological Museum Voss. Norway)

Characteristics of cereals

Although there are various cereals, all have a number of common characteristics. They are herbaceous plants round hollow stems, narrow leaves, hugs and flowers on inflorescences (spikes, panicles or clusters) Each stem has several flowers together in spicules. The flowers usually have three stamens and a single ovary with two feathery stigmas. Lack petals and, instead, the stamens or stigmas are surrounded by two pairs of opposing parts placed one above the other. called bracts - glumella glumella higher or lower or palea and lemma. They have dry fruits indehiscent, ie not open when ripe caryopsis type.

A cereal fruit - what normally is called grain or seed - consists of the following parts, as shown in the picture below (wheat grain):

- Germ or embryo: formed by minerals, enzymes, proteins, essential fatty acids and vitamins, especially vitamin B and vitamin E. From this part of the seed the new plant is originated. This part of the grain is usually eliminated in the refining process, mainly to remove the flour the essential oils that can decay with time.

- Endospermo or albumen: The germ or embryo, the endosperm is separated by a permeable layer. The endosperm is the most abundant of a cereal grain and is the reservoir from which will feed the new plant until it can extract minerals and water from the soil with their roots. It is almost 80% of grain weight. This consists of carbohydrates (starch) for the most part and a few proteins. The albumen is, in practice, all that remains after the grain refining.

- Aleurone layer: The endosperm is surrounded by an aleurone layer. This layer contains proteins and fats.

- Testa: It is a layer located above the aleurone and contains many vitamins and other nutrients.

- Pericarp: It is the outer layer. It's a very hard layer, consisting of cellulose, which contains abundant minerals and consists of three layers from the outside in are called exocarp, mesocarp and endocarp. This layer, along with the head, is also removed when the grain is refined, constituting the bran.

- The outer shell or husk, commonly called husks. It is formed by a kind of husk around the grain membrane and extending an edge.

Importance of cereals in agriculture, livestock and industry

It was probably the domestication of grasses that produce grains, which facilitated the birth of new civilizations. Surely these plants were chosen either because they excelled in quantity above the other, either because it was very easy to separate the seeds from the plant, perhaps because its richness in carbohydrates they might get a huge energy source or because they were easier to preserve in their clay containers. The truth is that the grains formed the basis for the birth of agriculture. They learned to save seeds of wild plants for planting in place that suited them, by selection were increasingly choosing more resistant varieties, producing more grain, and better taste, until he found the enormous variety of species and varieties cereals available today.

Part of the seeds collected were intended to produce new plants, the rest was used for food. It was a revolution to discover how crushing the seeds between two stones was obtained a powder, flour, mixed with water which led to a paste and then baked in was very nutritious and tasty. Thus was born what we know today as bread, staple food of many cultures.

Do not forget the importance of cereals in animal feed are both dry seeds in the manufacture of feed and the young plant in the production of forage. The straw is obtained from the dried stems of plants separated from the grain in the past had great importance in feeding ruminants. Today its uses are different and much wider.

The cereal food industry uses the numbers in the manufacture of foods such as starch, gluten or dextrose, alcohol, syrup, etc. . The chemical industry gets from them, especially corn products such as biofuels, plastics and other products such as rubber, resins and insecticides.

Recently the use of cereals for the production of biofuels has caused a great stir throughout the world. The rising price of cereals by higher demand in the production of these new fuels or possible speculation in financial markets has led to a lack of these basic foods to the most disadvantaged sectors of our planet.

More information on cereals in the listing above.