One of most economically important plant in the world is barley grass. The year 2007 saw how barley grass rose to rank 4 in the world having produced to about 16 million tons in an area of about 566,000 square kilometers.
What is barley grass? For botanists, barley grass or Hordeum vulgare is a self-pollinating grass. It has fourteen diploid chromosomes and it has been domesticated through the years. The grains are in characteristic spike bearing spikelet that can dehisce or open up to scatter its seeds for propagation. Spikelet is in triplets where only the central spikelet is fertile. The barley cultivars that kept this trait became known as the two-row barleys. A mutation made the two lateral spikelet fertile thus forming the six-row barleys. A variety that proves useful is the hulless or “naked” barley that was a popular food crop in the olden days which is now re-discovered for other uses.
What is barley grass and why the importance?
Barley is a popular source of beverages particularly the two-row barley which has a lower protein content than six-row barley. This simply means that there is more sugar good for fermentation. This explains the popular use of two-row barley when malting to make the beers and ales. This is, in fact, traditionally being used in making German and English beers. On the contrary, the six-row barleys are traditionally preferred for American lager style of beer. These days, many American beers are already malting the two-row barley. Barley water and barley tea called “mugicha” common in Japan are both prepared by boiling water with barley. Today, large production is necessary to feed the cattle and swine. It is the principal feed in many industrialized nations like the US, Canada and European countries.
Barley has so many vital nutrients that makes it another super food. It has, in fact, about 8 amino acid. It is claimed to be effective in controlling the sugar level in the blood. Once the grain is dehulled, it still has bran that makes it nutritious. Barley still remains to be a food staple and a popular ingredient to many recipes in many nations in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
What is barley grass? In the modern world, the uses are far-reaching. The role of barley is symbolical as it helps the society enhance food security in every home, development of the rural areas and bringing sustainable development to the fore.