Barley (Hordeum vulgare), a member of the Poaceae, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the founder crops; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering and making it much easier to harvest. Its use then spread throughout Eurasia by 2000 BC. Barley prefers relatively low temperatures and well-drained soil to grow. It is relatively tolerant of drought and soil salinity, but is less winter-hardy than wheat or rye.
In 2023, barley was fourth among grains in quantity produced, 146 million , behind maize, rice, and wheat. Globally, 70% of barley production is used as animal feed, while 30% is used as a source of fermentable material for beer, or further Distillation into whisky, and as a component of various foods. It is used in soups and stews and in barley bread of various cultures. Barley grains are commonly made into malt using a traditional and ancient method of preparation. In English folklore, John Barleycorn personifies the grain and the alcoholic beverages made from it. English pub names such as The Barley Mow allude to its role in the production of beer.
Etymology
The
Old English word for barley was
bere.
This survives in the north of Scotland as
bere; it is used for a strain of six-row barley grown there.
Modern English
barley derives from the
Old English adjective
bærlic, meaning "of barley".
The word
barn derives from Old English
bere-aern meaning "barley-store".
The name of the
genus is from Latin
hordeum, barley, likely related to Latin
horrere, to bristle.
Description
Barley is a
cereal, a member of the
Poaceae with edible grains. Its flowers are clusters of
arranged in a distinctive herringbone pattern. Each spikelet has a long thin awn (to long), making the ears look tufted. The spikelets are in clusters of three. In six-row barley, all three spikelets in each cluster are fertile; in two-row barley, only the central one is fertile.
It is a
self-pollination,
diploid species with 14
.
The genome of barley was sequenced in 2012 by the International Barley Genome Sequencing Consortium and the UK Barley Sequencing Consortium.
Origin
External phylogeny
The barley
genus Hordeum is relatively closely related to wheat and
rye within the
Triticeae, and more distantly to rice within the
BOP clade of grasses (
Poaceae).
The
phylogeny of the Triticeae is complicated by hybridization between species, so there is a network of relationships rather than a simple inheritance-based tree.
Domestication
Barley was one of the first grains to be domesticated in the
Fertile Crescent, an area of relatively abundant water in Western Asia,
around 9,000 BC.
Wild barley (
H. vulgare ssp.
spontaneum) ranges from North Africa and
Crete in the west to
Tibet in the east.
A study of genome-wide diversity markers found
Tibet to be an additional center of domestication of cultivated barley.
The earliest
archaeology evidence of the consumption of
wild barley,
Hordeum spontaneum, comes from the
Epipaleolithic at
Ohalo II at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee, where grinding stones with traces of starch were found. The remains were dated to about 23,000 BC.
The earliest evidence for the domestication of barley, in the form of cultivars that cannot reproduce without human assistance, comes from Mesopotamia, specifically the
Jarmo region of modern-day Iraq, around 9,000–7,000 BC.
Domestication changed the Plant morphology of the barley grain substantially, from an elongated shape to a more rounded spherical one.
The wild barley found currently in the Fertile Crescent may not be the progenitor of the barley cultivated in Eritrea and Ethiopia, indicating that it may have been domesticated separately in eastern Africa.
Spread
Archaeobotanical evidence shows that barley had spread throughout Eurasia by 2,000 BC.
Genetic analysis demonstrates that cultivated barley followed several different routes over time.
[ Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ] By 4200 BC domesticated barley had reached Eastern Finland.
Barley has been grown in the Korean Peninsula since the Early Mumun Pottery Period (
circa 1500–850 BC).
Barley ( in
Sanskrit) is mentioned many times in the
Rigveda and other Indian scriptures as a principal grain in ancient India.
Traces of barley cultivation have been found in post-Neolithic Bronze Age Harappan civilization 5,700–3,300 years ago.
Barley beer was probably one of the first alcoholic drinks developed by Neolithic humans;
later it was used as currency.
The Sumerian language had a word for barley,
akiti. In ancient
Mesopotamia, a stalk of barley was the primary symbol of the goddess
Shala.
|
| + Barley in Egyptian hieroglyphs | jt ideogram | M34 |
| jt spelling | i-t-U9:M33 |
| šma ideogram | U9 |
Rations of barley for workers appear in Linear B tablets in Mycenaean contexts at Knossos and at Mycenaean Pylos.[Pliny the Elder. Natural History, xviii.72.] Tibetan barley has been a staple food in Tibetan cuisine since the fifth century AD. This grain, along with a cool climate that permitted storage, produced a civilization that was able to raise great armies.
Taxonomy and varieties
Two-row and six-row barley
Spikelets are arranged in triplets which alternate along the
rachis. In wild barley (and other
Old World species of
Hordeum), only the central spikelet is fertile, while the other two are reduced. This condition is retained in certain cultivars known as two-row barleys. A pair of mutations (one dominant, the other recessive) result in fertile lateral spikelets to produce six-row barleys.
A mutation in one gene,
vrs1, is responsible for the transition from two-row to six-row barley.
Brewers in Europe tend to use two-row cultivars and breweries in North America use six-row barley (or a mix), and there are important differences in enzyme content, kernel shape, and other factors that malters and brewers must take into consideration.
In traditional taxonomy, different forms of barley were classified as different species based on morphological differences. Two-row barley with shattering spikes (wild barley) was named Hordeum spontaneum. Two-row barley with nonshattering spikes was named as H. distichon, six-row barley with nonshattering spikes as H. vulgare (or H. hexastichum), and six-row with shattering spikes as H. agriocrithon. Because these differences were driven by single-gene mutations, coupled with cell biology and molecular evidence, most recent classifications treat these forms as a single species, H. vulgare.
Hulless barley
Hulless or "naked" barley (
Hordeum vulgare var.
nudum) is a form of domesticated barley with an easier-to-remove
Husk. Naked barley is an ancient food crop, but a new industry has developed around uses of selected hulless barley to increase the digestibility of the grain, especially for pigs and poultry.
Hulless barley has been investigated for several potential new applications as whole grain, bran, and flour.
Hulless barley can offer higher protein, increased beta-glucan content, and more efficient handling and processing because of the lack of hull.
+ Barley production
|
| 20.5 |
| 13.5 |
| 12.1 |
| 11.0 |
| 9.2 |
| 8.9 |
| 145.8 |
|
Production
In 2023, world production of barley was 146 million tonnes, led by Russia accounting for 14% of the world total (table). Australia, France, and Germany were secondary producers.
Worldwide barley production in 2023 was fourth among grains, following maize (1.2 billion tonnes), rice (800 million tonnes), and wheat (799 million tonnes).
Cultivation
Barley is a crop that prefers relatively low temperatures, in the growing season; it is grown around the world in temperate areas. It grows best in well-drained soil in full sunshine. In the tropics and subtropics, it is grown for food and straw in South Asia, North and East Africa, and in the Andes of South America. In dry regions it requires irrigation.
It has a short growing season and is relatively drought-tolerant.
Barley is more tolerant of
soil salinity than other cereals, varying in different cultivars.
It has less winter-hardiness than
winter wheat and far less than rye.
Like other cereals, barley is typically planted on Tillage land. Seed was sowing, but in developed countries is usually seed drill. As it grows it requires soil nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium), often supplied as fertilizers. It needs to be monitored for pests and diseases, and if necessary treated before these become serious. The stems and ears turn yellow when ripe, and the ears begin to droop. Traditional harvesting was by hand with or ; in developed countries, harvesting is mechanised with combine harvesters.
File:Tramlines in the sun - geograph.org.uk - 1565399.jpg|Young winter barley in early November,
Scotland, 2009
File:Cessna188AGWagonZKCSE.jpg|Spraying barley for rust fungus,
New Zealand, 1979
File:In The Barley Harvest.jpg|Traditional barley harvest by hand with , England, c. 1886.
Photo Peter Henry Emerson
File:Claas Dominator 85 harvesting winter barley at Ostrittrum.jpg|Harvesting winter barley with a combine harvester, Germany, 2017
Pests and diseases
Among the insect pests of barley are
such as Russian wheat aphid, caterpillars such as of the armyworm moth,
Mealybug, and
wireworm larvae of click beetle genera such as
Aeolus. Aphid damage can often be tolerated, whereas armyworms can eat whole leaves. Wireworms kill seedlings, and require
seed treatment or preplanting treatment.
Serious fungal diseases of barley include powdery mildew caused by Blumeria graminis, leaf scald caused by Rhynchosporium secalis, barley rust caused by Puccinia hordei, crown rust caused by Puccinia coronata, various diseases caused by Cochliobolus sativus, Fusarium ear blight,
Bacterial diseases of barley include bacterial blight caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. translucens.
Barley is susceptible to several viral diseases, such as barley mild mosaic bymovirus.
For durable disease resistance, quantitative resistance is more important than qualitative resistance. The most important have corresponding resistance gene regions on all chromosomes of barley.
File:Coleoptera larvae (ritnaalden).jpg|, the larvae of click beetles, kill barley seedlings.
File:Puccinia hordei G.H. Otth 5410688.jpg|Barley rust, a plant disease caused by the fungus Puccinia hordei
Food
Preparation
Hulled barley (or covered barley) is eaten after removing the inedible, fibrous, outer husk or hull. Once removed, it is called dehulled barley (or pot barley or scotch barley).
(or pearled barley) is dehulled to remove most of the bran, and polished.
Barley meal, a wholemeal
barley flour lighter than wheat meal but darker in colour, is used in
gruel.
This gruel is known as سويق :
sawīq in the
Arab world.
With a long history of cultivation in the Middle East, barley is used in a wide range of traditional Arab cuisine, Assyrian cuisine, Israelite, Kurdish cuisine, and Persian cuisine foodstuffs including keşkek, kashk, and murri. Barley soup is traditionally eaten during Ramadan in Saudi Arabia.
In Eastern Europe and Central Europe Europe, barley is used in soups and stews such as ričet. In Africa, where it is a traditional food plant, it has the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development, and support sustainable landcare.
The six-row variety bere is cultivated in Orkney, Shetland, Caithness and the Western Isles of the Scottish Highlands and Islands. When milled into beremeal, it is used locally in bread, , and the traditional beremeal bannock.
In Japanese cuisine cuisine, barley is mixed with rice and steamed as mugimeshi.
In Korean cuisine cuisine, a similar dish called boribap (보리밥) has been eaten since the Joseon dynasty. In Jeju Island, unripe barley rice was eaten in spring when food was short.
File:Barley Seeds.jpg|Barley grains with and without the outer husk
File:BannockBeremeal.jpg|Beremeal bannock, Orkney, 2008
File:Mugimeshi.jpg| Mugimeshi, Japanese steamed barley rice
File:Tokat keshkek.jpg|Keşkek, a Middle Eastern barley stew
Nutrition
Cooked barley is 69% water, 28%
, 2% protein, and 0.4% fat (table). In a 100-gram (3.5 oz) reference serving, cooked barley provides of
food energy and is a good source (10% or more of the
Daily Value, DV) of essential nutrients, including,
dietary fibre, the B vitamin niacin (14% DV), and
dietary minerals, including iron (10% DV) and
manganese (12% DV) (table).
[ USDA Database entry Accessed 14 January 2024.]
Health implications
According to
Health Canada and the US Food and Drug Administration, consuming at least 3 grams per day of barley
beta-glucan can lower levels of blood cholesterol, a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.
Eating whole-grain barley, a high-fibre grain, improves regulation of
blood sugar (i.e., reduces blood glucose response to a meal).
Consuming
containing barley over weeks to months improves cholesterol levels and glucose regulation.
Barley contains
gluten, which makes it an unsuitable grain for consumption by people with gluten-related disorders, such as
coeliac disease, non-coeliac gluten sensitivity and
wheat allergy sufferers.
Nevertheless, some wheat allergy patients can tolerate barley.
Uses
Beer, whisky, and soft drinks
Barley, made into
malt, is a key ingredient in
beer and
whisky production.
Two-row barley is traditionally used in
German beer and English beers. Six-row barley was traditionally used in US beers, but both varieties are in common usage now.
Distilled from green beer,
Scottish and Irish whisky are made primarily from barley.
About 25% of American barley is used for malting, for which barley is the best-suited grain.
Accordingly, barley is often assessed by its
malting enzyme content.
is a style of strong beer from the English
brewing tradition. An 18th-century alcoholic drink of the same name was made by boiling barley in water, then mixing the barley water with white wine,
borage, lemon and sugar. In the 19th century, a different barley wine was prepared from recipes of ancient Greek origin.
Nonalcoholic drinks such as barley water
File:HectorTurning (cropped).jpg|Traditional floor malting in Scotland for malt whisky
File:Mash-Jinx (cropped).jpg|Barley grains mashing (heated with water) for brewing beer
File:Hauf an a hauf 1 (cropped).jpg|Scotch whisky and beer are both made from barley.
File:Boricha (barley tea) (cropped).jpg| Boricha, Korean
roasted barley tea
Animal feed
Some 70% of the world's barley production is used as livestock feed,
for example for
cattle feeding in western Canada.
In 2014, an enzymatic process was devised to make a high-protein fish feed from barley, suitable for carnivorous fish such as
trout and
salmon.
Other uses
Barley straw has been placed in mesh bags and floated in fish ponds or water gardens to help prevent algal growth without harming pond plants and animals. The technique's effectiveness is at best mixed.
Barley grains were once used for measurement in England, there being nominally three or four barleycorns to the inch.
By the 19th century, this had been superseded by standard inch measures.
In ancient
Mesopotamia, barley was used as a form of money, the standard unit of weight for barley, and hence of value, being the
shekel.
Culture and folklore
In the
Old English poem
Beowulf, and in
Norse mythology,
Scyld Scefing (the second name meaning "with a sheaf") and his son
Beow ("Barley") are associated with the grain, or are possibly corn-gods; J. R. R. Tolkien wrote a poem "King Sheave" about them, and based a major element of his legendarium, the Old Straight Road from
Middle-earth to the
earthly paradise of
Valinor, on their story.
William of Malmesbury's 12th century
Chronicle tells the story of the related figure
Sceafa as a sleeping child in a boat without oars with a sheaf of corn at his head.
identified
Peko, a parallel "barley-figure" in Finnish culture, in turn connected by R.D. Fulk with the Eddaic
Bergelmir.
In English folklore, the figure of John Barleycorn in the folksong of the same name is a personification of barley, and of the beer made from it. In the song, John Barleycorn is represented as suffering attacks, death, and indignities that correspond to the various stages of barley cultivation, such as reaping and malting; but he is revenged by getting the men drunk: "And little Sir John and the nut-brown bowl / Proved the strongest man at last."
English pub names such as The Barley Mow,
File:John Barleycorn MET DP-300-063 (cropped).jpg|Porcelain figurine of John Barleycorn, complete with songsheet and little brown jug of beer
File:The Barley Mow, Clifton Hampden (wide).jpg|English pub names such as The Barley Mow (like this pub at Clifton Hampden) allude to the use of barley to make the beer available inside.
Sources
External links
