Cereal - wikipedia Cereal This article is about cereal grains in general. For breakfast cereal, see Breakfast cereal. For food grains in general, see Grain. For other uses, see Cereal ( disambiguation ). Not to be confused with serial. Various cereals and their products A cereal is any edible components of the grain ( botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis ) of cultivated grass, composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop and are therefore staple crops. Edible grains from other plant families, such as buckwheat ( Polygonaceae ), quinoa ( Amaranthaceae ) and chia ( Lamiaceae ), are referred to as pseudocereals. In their natural, unprocessed, whole grain form, cereals are a rich source of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, oils, and protein. When processed by the removal of the bran, and germ, the remaining endosperm is mostly carbohydrate. In some developing countries, grain in the form of rice, wheat, millet, or maize constitutes a majority of daily sustenance. In developed countries, cereal consumption is moderate and varied but still substantial. The word cereal is derived from Ceres, the Roman goddess of harvest and agriculture. Contents 1 Ancient history 2 The Green Revolution 3 Farming 3.1 Planting 3.2 Harvesting 4 Production 5 Nutritional facts 6 Standardization 7 See also 8 References 9 External links Ancient history This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( June 2015 ) Further information : Neolithic Revolution Threshing of grain in ancient Egypt Roman harvesting machine Agriculture allowed for the support of an increased population, leading to larger societies and eventually the development of cities. It also created the need for greater organization of political power ( and the creation of social stratification ), as decisions had to be made regarding labor and harvest allocation and access rights to water and land. Agriculture bred immobility, as populations settled down for long periods of time, which led to the accumulation of material goods. Early Neolithic villages show evidence of the development of processing grain. The Levant is the ancient home of the ancestors of wheat, barley and peas, in which many of these villages were based. There is evidence of the cultivation of figs in the Jordan Valley as long as 11,300 years ago, and cereal ( grain ) production in Syria approximately 9,000 years ago. During the same period, farmers in China began to farm rice and millet, using man - made floods and fires as part of their cultivation regimen. Fiber crops were domesticated as early as food crops, with China domesticating hemp, cotton being developed independently in Africa and South America, and Western Asia domesticating flax. The use of soil amendments, including manure, fish, compost and ashes, appears to have begun early, and developed independently in several areas of the world, including Mesopotamia, the Nile Valley and Eastern Asia. The first cereal grains were domesticated by early primitive humans. About 8,000 years ago, they were domesticated by ancient farming communities in the Fertile Crescent region. Emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, and barley were three of the so - called Neolithic founder crops in the development of agriculture. Around the same time, millets and rices were starting to become domesticated in East Asia. Sorghum and millets were also being domesticated in sub-Saharan West Africa. The green revolution Main article : Green Revolution During the second half of the 20th century there was a significant increase in the production of high - yield cereal crops worldwide, especially wheat and rice, due to an initiative known as the Green Revolution. The strategies developed by the Green Revolution focused on fending off starvation and were very successful in raising overall yields of cereal grains, but did not give sufficient relevance to nutritional quality. These modern high yield - cereal crops have low quality proteins, with essential amino acid deficiencies, are high in carbohydrates, and lack balanced essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and other quality factors. Farming A wheat field in Dorset, England While each individual species has its own peculiarities, the cultivation of all cereal crops is similar. Most are annual plants ; consequently one planting yields one harvest. Wheat, rye, triticale, oats, barley, and spelt are the `` cool - season '' cereals. These are hardy plants that grow well in moderate weather and cease to grow in hot weather ( approximately 30 ° C ( 86 ° F ), but this varies by species and variety ). The `` warm - season '' cereals are tender and prefer hot weather. Barley and rye are the hardiest cereals, able to overwinter in the subarctic and Siberia. Many cool - season cereals are grown in the tropics. However, some are only grown in cooler highlands, where it may be possible to grow multiple crops per year. For the past few decades, there has also been increasing interest in perennial grain plants. This interest developed due to advantages in erosion control, reduced need for fertiliser, and potential lowered costs to the farmer. Though research is still in early stages, The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas has been able to create a few cultivars that produce a fairly good crop yield. Planting Cereal grain seeds from left to right, top to bottom : wheat, spelt, barley, oat. The warm - season cereals are grown in tropical lowlands year - round and in temperate climates during the frost - free season. Rice is commonly grown in flooded fields, though some strains are grown on dry land. Other warm climate cereals, such as sorghum, are adapted to arid conditions. Cool - season cereals are well - adapted to temperate climates. Most varieties of a particular species are either winter or spring types. Winter varieties are sown in the autumn, germinate and grow vegetatively, then become dormant during winter. They resume growing in the springtime and mature in late spring or early summer. This cultivation system makes optimal use of water and frees the land for another crop early in the growing season. Winter varieties do not flower until springtime because they require vernalization : exposure to low temperatures for a genetically determined length of time. Where winters are too warm for vernalization or exceed the hardiness of the crop ( which varies by species and variety ), farmers grow spring varieties. Spring cereals are planted in early springtime and mature later that same summer, without vernalization. Spring cereals typically require more irrigation and yield less than winter cereals. Harvesting Threshing ; Tacuinum Sanitatis, 14th century Once the cereal plants have grown their seeds, they have completed their life cycle. The plants die, become brown, and dry. As soon as the parent plants and their seed kernels are reasonably dry, harvest can begin. In developed countries, cereal crops are universally machine - harvested, typically using a combine harvester, which cuts, threshes, and winnows the grain during a single pass across the field. In developing countries, a variety of harvesting methods are in use, depending on the cost of labor, from combines to hand tools such as the scythe or grain cradle. If a crop is harvested during humid weather, the grain may not dry adequately in the field to prevent spoilage during its storage. In this case, the grain is sent to a dehydrating facility, where artificial heat dries it. In North America, farmers commonly deliver their newly harvested grain to a grain elevator, a large storage facility that consolidates the crops of many farmers. The farmer may sell the grain at the time of delivery or maintain ownership of a share of grain in the pool for later sale. Storage facilities should be protected from small grain pests, rodents and birds. Production The following table shows the annual production of cereals in 1961, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 ranked by 2013 production. Grain Worldwide production ( millions of metric tons ) Notes 1961 2011 2012 2013 Maize ( corn ) 205 851 888 872 1016 A staple food of people in the Americas, Africa, and of livestock worldwide ; often called corn in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. A large portion of maize crops are grown for purposes other than human consumption. Rice 285 703 725 720 745 The primary cereal of tropical and some temperate regions. Staple food in most of Brazil ( both maize and manioc / cassava were once more important and their presence is still stronger in some areas ), other parts of Latin America and some other Portuguese - descended cultures, parts of Africa ( even more before the Columbian exchange ), most of South Asia and the Far East. Largely overridden by breadfruit ( a dicot tree ) during the South Pacific 's part of the Austronesian expansion. Wheat 222 650 699 671 713 The primary cereal of temperate regions. It has a worldwide consumption but it is a staple food of North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, most of the Southern Cone and much of the Greater Middle East. Wheat gluten - based meat substitutes are important in the Far East ( albeit less than tofu ) and said to resemble meat texture more than others. Barley 72 124 133 133 144 Grown for malting and livestock on land too poor or too cold for wheat. Sorghum 41 60 58 57 61 Important staple food in Asia and Africa and popular worldwide for livestock. Millet 26 33 27 30 30 A group of similar but distinct cereals that form an important staple food in Asia and Africa. Oats 50 20 22 21 23 Popular worldwide as a breakfast food and livestock feed. In human consumption, oats can be served as porridge as oatmeal, although oats could be eaten in various different forms other than rolled oats, including unprocessed oats. Rye 12 12 13 15 16 Important in cold climates. Triticale 35 14 13 14 14.5 Hybrid of wheat and rye, grown similarly to rye. Fonio 0.18 0.57 0.59 0.59 0.6 Several varieties are grown as food crops in Africa. Maize, wheat, and rice together accounted for 89 % of all cereal production worldwide in 2012, and 43 % of all food calories in 2009, while the production of oats and triticale have drastically fallen from their 1960s levels. Other cereals worthy of notice, but not included in FAO statistics, include : Teff, an ancient grain that is a staple in Ethiopia. It is high in fiber and protein. Its flour is often used to make injera. It can also be eaten as a warm breakfast cereal similar to farina with a chocolate or nutty flavor. Its flour and whole grain products can usually be found in natural foods stores. Wild rice, grown in small amounts in North America. Several other species of wheat have also been domesticated, some very early in the history of agriculture : Spelt, a close relative of common wheat. Einkorn, a wheat species with a single grain. Emmer, one of the first crops domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. Durum, the only tetraploid species of wheat currently cultivated, used to make semolina. Kamut, an ancient relative of durum with an unknown history. In 2013 global cereal production reached a record 2,521 million tonnes. A slight dip to 2,498 million tonnes was forecasted for 2014 by the FAO in July 2014. Nutritional facts Assortment of dried legume foods Some grains are deficient in the essential amino acid, lysine. That is why many vegetarian cultures, in order to get a balanced diet, combine their diet of grains with legumes. Many legumes, however, are deficient in the essential amino acid methionine, which grains contain. Thus, a combination of legumes with grains forms a well - balanced diet for vegetarians. Common examples of such combinations are dal ( lentils ) with rice by South Indians and Bengalis, dal with wheat in Pakistan and North India, and beans with corn tortillas, tofu with rice, and peanut butter with wheat bread ( as sandwiches ) in several other cultures, including Americans. The amount of crude protein found in grain is measured as the grain crude protein concentration. Cereals contain exogenous opioid peptides called exorphins and include opioid food peptides like Gluten exorphin and opioid food peptides. They mimic the actions of endorphines because they bind to the same opioid receptors in the brain. Standardization The ISO has published a series of standards regarding cereal products which are covered by ICS 67.060. See also Food portal Chillcuring, grain ventilating process Food price crisis Food quality Food safety List of foods Nutrition Post-harvest losses Pseudocereal Pulse Push -- pull technology Zadoks scale References Jump up ^ `` IDRC - International Development Research Centre ''. IDRC - International Development Research Centre. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Jump up ^ DK Jordan ( 24 November 2012 ). `` Living the Revolution ''. The Neolithic. University of California -- San Diego. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013. Jump up ^ `` The Development of Agriculture ''. National Geographic. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2013. Jump up ^ Hancock, James F. ( 2012 ). Plant evolution and the origin of crop species ( 3rd ed. ). CABI. p. 119. ISBN 1 - 84593 - 801 - 1. Jump up ^ UN Industrial Development Organization, International Fertilizer Development Center ( 1998 ). The Fertilizer Manual ( 3rd ed. ). Springer. p. 46. ISBN 0 - 7923 - 5032 - 4. Jump up ^ Serna - Saldivar, Sergio ( 2010 ). Cereal Grains : Properties, Processing, and Nutritional Attributes. p. 535. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015. Jump up ^ `` Lessons from the green revolution : towards a new green revolution ''. FAO. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017. The green revolution was a technology package comprising material components of improved high - yielding varieties ( HYVs ) of two staple cereals ( rice and wheat ), irrigation or controlled water supply and improved moisture utilization, fertilizers and pesticides and associated management skills. ^ Jump up to : Sands DC, Morris CE, Dratz EA, Pilgeram A ( 2009 ). `` Elevating optimal human nutrition to a central goal of plant breeding and production of plant - based foods ''. Plant Sci ( Review ). 177 ( 5 ) : 377 -- 89. doi : 10.1016 / j. plantsci. 2009.07. 011. PMC 2866137. PMID 20467463. Jump up ^ Kunzig, Robert ( April 2011 ) The Big Idea : Perennial Grains Archived 5 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine... National Geographic. Jump up ^ 1961 is the earliest year for which FAO statistics are available. ^ Jump up to : `` ProdSTAT ''. FAOSTAT. Archived from the original on 9 February 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2006. Jump up ^ The weight given is for paddy rice ^ Jump up to : `` Oats ''. The World 's Healthiest Foods. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015. Jump up ^ `` Types of Oats ''. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015. Jump up ^ Vogel, Steven ( 2003 ). Prime Mover -- A Natural History of Muscle. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., USA, p. 301. ISBN 039332463X. Jump up ^ Edwards, J.S. ; Bartley, E.E. ; Dayton, A.D. ( 1980 ). `` Effects of Dietary Protein Concentration on Lactating Cows ''. Journal of Dairy Science. 63 ( 2 ) : 243. doi : 10.3168 / jds. S0022 - 0302 ( 80 ) 82920 - 1. Jump up ^ International Organization for Standardization. `` 67.060 : Cereals, pulses and derived products ''. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2009. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to : Cereal ( category ) Look up cereal in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Cereals and pseudocereals Cereals Gramineae Barley Fonio Job 's tears Maize ( Corn ) Millets Oats Rice Rye Sorghum Teff Triticale Zizania Wheat ( Triticum ) Bread Durum Khorasan Red Fife Norin 10 Winter Farro Einkorn Emmer Spelt Pseudocereals Polygonaceae Buckwheat Tartary buckwheat Amaranthaceae Amaranth A. caudatus A. cruentus A. hypochondriacus Celosia Chenopodiaceae Quinoa Pitseed goosefoot Cañihua Lamiaceae Chia See also Triticeae Neolithic founder crops Neolithic Revolution History of agriculture Natufian culture Fertile Crescent Tell Abu Hureyra Tell Aswad Domestication Green Revolution Genetic engineering Selective breeding Crop wild relative Lists of countries by agricultural output rankings Cereals Barley Buckwheat Maize Millet Oats Rice Rye Sorghum Triticale Wheat exports Fruit Apples Apricots Avocados Bananas Cherries Citrus Oranges Coconuts Cucumbers Eggplants Plums Pear Grapes Mango Tomatoes Vegetables Artichoke Garlic Onion Potato Rapeseed Soybean Other Cacao Cassava Coffee Cotton Fish Garlic Milk Sugar beet Sugar cane Sunflower seed Tea Tobacco Wine Related Irrigation Land use List of international rankings List of top international rankings by country Lists by country Veganism and vegetarianism Perspectives Veganism Animal - free agriculture Fruitarianism History Juice fasting Low - carbon diet Raw veganism Nutrition Vegan organic gardening Vegetarianism Economic vegetarianism Environmental vegetarianism History Lacto vegetarianism Ovo vegetarianism Ovo - lacto vegetarianism Cuisine Vegetarian Diet Pyramid Ecofeminism Nutrition By country Lists Vegans Vegetarians Vegetarian festivals Vegetarian organizations Vegetarian restaurants Ethics Secular Animal rights Animal welfare Carnism Deep ecology Environmental vegetarianism Ethics of eating meat Meat paradox Nonviolence Speciesism Tirukkural Religious Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Sattvic Ahimsa Jainism Judaism Pythagoreanism Rastafari Sikhism Food, drink Agar Agave nectar Meat analogue List of meat substitutes Miso Mochi Mock duck Nutritional yeast Plant cream Plant milk Quinoa Quorn Seitan Soy yogurt Tempeh Tofu Tofurkey Cheese Vegepet Hot dog Vegetarian mark Sausage Beer Wine Veggie burger Groups, events, companies Vegan American Vegan Society Beauty Without Cruelty Food Empowerment Project Go Vegan Movement for Compassionate Living Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Plamil Foods Vegan Awareness Foundation Vegan flag Vegan Ireland Vegan Outreach Vegan Prisoners Support Group The Vegan Society Veganz World Vegan Day Vegetarian American Vegetarian Party Boston Vegetarian Society Christian Vegetarian Association European Vegetarian Union Happidog Hare Krishna Food for Life International Vegetarian Union Jewish Veg Linda McCartney Foods Meat - free days Meatless Monday Swissveg Toronto Vegetarian Association Vegetarian Society Vegetarian Society ( Singapore ) Veggie Pride Viva ! Health World Esperantist Vegetarian Association World Vegetarian Day Books, reports Thirty - nine Reasons Why I Am a Vegetarian ( 1903 ) The Benefits of Vegetarianism ( 1927 ) Diet for a Small Planet ( 1971 ) Moosewood Cookbook ( 1977 ) Fit for Life ( 1985 ) Diet for a New America ( 1987 ) The China Study ( 2004 ) Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People ( 2005 ) Skinny Bitch ( 2005 ) Livestock 's Long Shadow ( 2006 ) Eating Animals ( 2009 ) The Kind Diet ( 2009 ) Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows ( 2009 ) Eat & Run ( 2012 ) Meat Atlas ( annual ) Films Meet Your Meat ( 2002 ) Peaceable Kingdom ( 2004 ) Earthlings ( 2005 ) A Sacred Duty ( 2007 ) Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead ( 2010 ) Planeat ( 2010 ) Forks Over Knives ( 2011 ) Vegucated ( 2011 ) Live and Let Live ( 2013 ) Cowspiracy ( 2014 ) What the Health ( 2017 ) Carnage ( 2017 ) Magazines Naked Food Vegetarian Times VegNews Physicians, academics Neal D. Barnard Rynn Berry T. Colin Campbell Caldwell Esselstyn Gary L. Francione Joel Fuhrman Michael Greger Melanie Joy Michael Klaper John A. McDougall Reed Mangels Jack Norris Dean Ornish Richard H. Schwartz Related Semi-vegetarianism Macrobiotic diet Pescetarianism Vegetarian and vegan dog diet Vegetarian and vegan symbolism GND : 4121356 - 7 NDL : 00566375 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cereal&oldid=854736631 '' Categories : Cereals Crops Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Use dmy dates from February 2015 Articles needing additional references from June 2015 All articles needing additional references All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from January 2011 Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with NDL identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikimedia Commons Afrikaans Alemannisch አማርኛ Ænglisc Aragonés Armãneashti Asturianu Avañe'ẽ Azərbaycanca বাংলা Bân - lâm - gú Башҡортса Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български Boarisch བོད ་ ཡིག Bosanski Brezhoneg Буряад Català Чӑвашла Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Эрзянь Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Føroyskt Français Frysk Gaeilge Galego 贛 語 Հայերեն हिन्दी Hrvatski Ido Ilokano Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית Basa Jawa ಕನ್ನಡ ქართული Kaszëbsczi Қазақша Kiswahili Kurdî Кыргызча Лакку Latina Latviešu Lietuvių Limburgs Lingála La. lojban. 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Question: what are the three main cereal crops in the world
Answer: Maize (corn)