Barley is a familiar food in grass family and known as an important cereal grain of the world. It is planting as crop in hundred of countries and provides also hundreds of million ton to the world market every year.
History
It is said that wild barley had appear long ago from the ancient time. Its first domestication was believed belonging to the Southeast Asia and Ethiopia millennia BC.
Alongside the history of the evolution, it appeared in different areas of the continents. For example, the evidences shown that the cultivation of barley was know in Egypt around 5 millennia BC, around 3 millennia BC in Europe, 2 millennia in China…
Barley was used as food for human and also fodder for animals. From when this cereal was known to be cultivated as crops, it was considered as an important food source and joined into many production of human, especially bread and beer.
To the recent century, although the production and consumption as food of barley in the world market had been reduced for the replacement of other food sources, this cereal still holds an important part and significant amount to the world.
Description and manufacture
Barley or Hordeum vulgae.L is a member of Poaceae – a grass family. It grows well in warm climate and is not well cold tolerant.
Barley fruits appear as berry like wheat but the color is lighter and its beard is longer. The ripe barley will have yellow white color. They also have strong flavor (like nut) and chewier if compared with wheat.
Like other grains, it in the world market is as different forms, from hulled to pearl, scotch and grit due to different purposes of processing.
The barley production is joined in producing animal food. Some amount of barley is for producing human food, and some for malting. Most of malt is used for beer, wine and some other alcohol drink producing.
As human food, pearl barley or barley flour are mostly marketed. It is also used to produce malted syrup, malted milk and some kinds of breakfast food.
Today, it is used not only for the popular products such as drink types, malted syrup or milk but also for the rich recipes that cook at home by the home chefs. It is considered one of the great choices for rich nutrition and contribute effectively to healthy eating plan.
