history - food : cereals

cereals

'Ceres' the Roman Goddess of Agriculture

Cereals are in fact named after the Roman Goddess, who supposedly looked after all their agriculture. Cereals comprise of edible grains such as wheat, oats, corn and foods prepared from these grains. When agriculture (generally thought to have been started by women) first began about 7000 BC, cereals figured prominently - wheat and barley hailing from the Middle East and corn from the Americas.

The starchy carbohydrates, which are provided by cereals, are essential in human nutrition. Rice is a staple diet for half the world's population, the remaining half cultivating the other cereals pending on climate and soil.

Cereals come from the cultivated grasses pammacede. In addition there are other crops that are good providers of starch, such as tapioca and cassava meal from the root of the cassava plant and sago from the sago palm. Fecula or flour products also come from the roots of such plants as the lotus, arum lily, bracken, potato and other tubers.

From the cereal grasses we harvest the valuable grains, which are actually the fruit of the plant, and the way we use these grains depends on their individual structure and their behaviour as foodstuffs.

The information contained here is supplied for your interest only and further research may be required. I have gathered it from many sources over many years. While I attempt to insure they are crossed referenced for accuracy, I take no responsibility for mistakes - additions or corrections are welcomed.

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