Nutritional and Health Benefits of Barley

Barley, a grass, is a major cereal grain cultivated in temperate climates around the world. Barley has been used as livestock feed, a source of fermentable content for beer and other alcoholic drinks, and as a part of a variety of health foods. It’s found in soups and stews, as well as in different cultures’ barley bread. In a conventional and ancient method of preparation, barley grains are usually turned into malt.

Types (Species) of Barley

There are three (3) species of barleys under cultivation. They are characterized as follows:

• 6-rowed barleys
• 2-rowed barleys
• irregular barley

6-rowed Barleys

These barleys have six rows and a tough rachis or spike stem. Many of the florets are fertile, and the kernels grow normally. There are two groups within the species: (1) The most common form, in which the lateral kernels are only significantly smaller than the central one. (2) The category of which the lateral kernels are slightly smaller than the central ones. Kinds with sterile or nearly sterile lateral spikelets can be included in this community. There is considerable variation between the two categories, although they are not distinctly different.

2-rowed Barleys

This species is the 2-rowed barleys with tough rachis. Both of the flowers in the central spikelets are reproductive, while the flowers in the lateral spikelets are either male or sexless. There are two types of varieties: (1) The classic two-row group, with lemma, palea, and reduced sexual sections in the lateral flowers. (2) The deficiens group, which has no sexual parts in the lateral flowers.

Irregular Barley

This is irregular barley with a tough rachis, but lateral flowers reduced to a stem piece only in some situations, and fertile, sterile, or sexless in others. Fertile flowers and seeds are located in the central spikelets.

Historical Background (Origin) of Barley Cultivation

Barley was one of the first domesticated grains in the Fertile Crescent, a region of Western Asia with ample water, and northeast Africa’s Nile River. It originated at the same time as einkorn and emmer wheat. From North Africa and Crete in the west to Tibet in the east, wild barley can be found. According to some historians, the oldest evidence of wild barley in an archaeological sense dates back to the Epipaleolithic period at Ohalo II, at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee. The fossils were found approximately 8500 BCE. According to some historians, the first evidence comes from Mesopotamia, especially the Jarmo region of modern-day Iraq.

Barley, one of the world’s most important grains, was domesticated about 11,000 years ago in the Near East (circa 9,000 BCE). By 2,000 BCE, archaeobotanical evidence suggests that barley had spread across Eurasia.

Domesticated barley is believed to have spread from Central Asia to India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Egypt. Aceramic (“pre-pottery”) Neolithic sites in the Near East, such as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B layers of Tell Abu Hureyra in Syria, include some of the oldest domesticated barley. Domesticated barley had spread as far as Eastern Finland by 4200 BCE, and had reached Greece and Italy by the 4th century BCE. Since the Early Mumun Pottery Period (circa 1500–850 BCE), barley has been cultivated on the Korean Peninsula alongside other crops such as millet, wheat, and legumes.

The Rigveda and other Indian scriptures list barley (known as Yava in both Vedic and Classical Sanskrit) as one of the most important grains in ancient India. Barley farming has also been discovered in the Harappan civilization of the post-Neolithic Bronze Age (5700–3300 years ago).

Barley’s ceremonial importance in mainland Greece may date back to the Eleusinian Mysteries’ earliest stages. Since the fifth century CE, Tibetan barley has become a staple of Tibetan cuisine. This food, combined with a cool climate that provided for storage, resulted in a civilisation capable of raising vast armies. It’s pounded into a flour known as tsampa, which is still a staple in Tibet. Roasted flour is combined with butter and butter tea to produce a hard dough that is eaten in small balls. Bread made from barley and rye was peasant food in medieval Europe, while wheat products were eaten by the upper classes. In the nineteenth century, potatoes largely replaced barley in Eastern Europe.

Use of Barley

Barley has been adapted into different uses which include but not limited to the following:

• Food
• Alcoholic Beverages
• Nonalcoholic Beverages
• Animal Feed
• Algistatic

Food

Since cutting the inedible, fibrous outer hull, hulled barley (or coated barley) is eaten. It’s known as dehulled barley until the hulls have been cut (or pot barley or scotch barley). Dehulled barley is a whole grain that still has its bran and germ, making it a common snack. Dehulled barley that has been steam-processed to extract the bran is known as pearl barley (or pearled barley). It can be “pearled,” which is a polishing process. Dehulled or pearl barley can be processed into a number of barley products, such as flour, oatmeal-like flakes, and grits.

In comparison to porridge, which is made from oats, gruel is made from barley meal, a wholemeal barley flour that is lighter than wheat meal but darker in color. In the Arab world, barley meal gruel is known as sawiq. Barley is used in a number of traditional Arabic, Assyrian, Israelite, Kurdish, and Persian foods such as kashkak, kashk, and murri, and has a long history of cultivation in the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, barley soup is usually served during Ramadan. Cholent, or hamin (in Hebrew), is a popular Jewish stew that is cooked in a number of forms by both Mizrachi and Ashkenazi Jews on the Sabbath. Barley is also used in Eastern and Central European soups and stews, such as riet. It has the ability to increase nutrition, enhance food stability, promote rural growth, and help sustainable landcare in Africa, where it is a conventional food vine. In the Scottish Highlands and islands, the six-row variety bere is grown in Orkney, Shetland, Caithness, and the Western Isles. It is used in bread, biscuits, and the popular beremeal bannock when milled into beremeal.

Alcoholic Beverages

Barley is an important ingredient in the manufacture of beer and whisky. German and English breweries have historically used two-row barley. In the United States, six-row barley was commonly used, but both varieties are now widely used. Whisky is made mainly from malt in Ireland and Scotland and is fermented from green beer. Around a quarter of all barley grown in the United States is used for malting, for which barley is the best grain. Barley wine is a strong beer style that originated in the English brewing tradition. Another alcoholic drink of the same name that was popular in the 18th century was made by boiling barley in water and then combining it with white wine and other ingredients including borage, lemon, and sugar. Different barley wine was produced in the nineteenth century using ancient Greek recipes.

Nonalcoholic Beverages

Boiling barley in water produces nonalcoholic products such as barley water and roasted barley tea. Barley is also used as a coffee substitute in Italy, caffè d’orzo (coffee of barley).

Animal Feed

Half of the barley produced in the United States is used as livestock feed. Barley is an important feed grain in many parts of the world where maize production is not feasible, especially in northern climates such as northern and eastern Europe. In Canada, Europe, and the northern United States, barley is the most common feed crop.

Algistatic

In England, barley straw is stored in mesh bags and floating in fish ponds or water gardens to help avoid algal growth while causing no damage to pond plants or animals.

Nutritional Value (Composition) of Barley

Health Benefits of Barley

Barley is one of the world’s most commonly eaten crops today. This flexible grain has a slightly chewy texture and a slightly nutty taste that goes well with a number of dishes. It’s also high in nutrients and has a long list of health benefits, including better digestion and weight loss, as well as lower cholesterol levels and a healthier heart.

Below are some of the health benefits of barley:

• Contains Many Beneficial Nutrients
• Helps in Weight Management
• Boosts Intestinal Health
• Prevents Gallstones
• Lowers Cholesterol
• Reduces Risk of Heart Disease
• Protects Against Diabetes
• Prevents Colon Cancer

Contains Many Beneficial Nutrients

Barley is rich in vitamins, minerals and other beneficial plant compounds. It comes in a number of types, from hulled barley to barley grits, flakes, and flour. Except for pearl barley, which has been polished to extract any or more of the outer bran layer as well as the kernel, nearly all varieties of barley use the entire grain. Barley is an especially good source of fiber, molybdenum, manganese, and selenium when eaten whole. Copper, vitamin B1, chromium, phosphorus, magnesium, and niacin are all found in large quantities.

Barley also includes lignans, an antioxidant community related to a decreased risk of cancer and heart disease. However, barley, like all whole grains, contains antinutrients, which inhibit digestion and nutrient absorption. To decrease the antinutrient content of the crop, soak it or sprout it. The nutrients in barley are more readily consumed when it is processed in this manner. Vitamin, vitamin, protein, and antioxidant levels may be improved by soaking and sprouting.

Helps in Weight Management

Barley has been found to decrease appetite and increase feelings of fullness, which can lead to weight loss over time. The high fiber content of barley helps to alleviate hunger. Beta-glucan, a soluble fiber, is particularly beneficial. Since soluble fibers, such as beta-glucan, form a gel-like material in your gut, digestion and absorption of nutrients are hindered. As a result, the hunger is reduced and fullness is encouraged.

Boosts Intestinal Health

Barley will help to improve the health of the intestines. Once again, its high fiber content is responsible — and in this case, particularly its insoluble fiber. The bulk of the fiber in barley is insoluble, meaning it does not dissolve in water as soluble fiber does. Instead, it bulks up the feces and speeds up the bowel passage, lowering your risk of constipation.

Prevents Gallstones

The high fiber content of barley can also assist in the prevention of gallstones. Gallstones are dense objects that can develop in the gallbladder, a tiny organ under the liver, on their own. Bile acids are formed by the gallbladder and are used by the body to digest fat. Gallstones typically do not cause any symptoms. Large gallstones will, on occasion, get trapped in a duct of your gallbladder, causing extreme pain. The gallbladder is often removed in such cases. Barley provides a kind of insoluble fiber that can help avoid gallstone formation and minimize the need for gallbladder surgery.

Lowers Cholesterol

Barley also assists in the lowering of cholesterol levels. By binding to bile acids, beta-glucans present in barley have been shown to decrease “bad” LDL cholesterol. Such bile acids, which your liver produces from cholesterol, are excreted in your urine. As a result, the liver must use up more cholesterol in order to generate fresh bile acids, lowering the volume of cholesterol in your blood.

Reduces Risk of Heart Disease

Whole grains have long been associated with increased heart protection. As a result, it should come as no surprise that using barley in your diet on a regular basis can reduce your risk of heart disease. That’s because barley’s soluble fiber, in addition to lowering “bad” LDL cholesterol levels, can also lower blood pressure.

Protects Against Diabetes

By lowering blood sugar levels and improving insulin secretion, barley can lower your risk of type 2 diabetes. This is due in part to barley’s high magnesium content, a mineral that helps insulin production and sugar utilization in the body. Soluble fiber in barley bonds with water and other molecules as it flows through the digestive tract, slowing the release of sugar into your bloodstream.

Prevents Colon Cancer

A diet high in whole grains has been linked to a lower risk of many chronic diseases, including some cancers, especially colon cancer. Barley’s high fiber material plays a vital role once again. Its insoluble fiber helps minimize the amount of time food takes to travel through your digestive tract, which tends to be especially protective against colon cancer. Soluble fiber may also bind to carcinogens in your gut, eliminating them from your bloodstream. Other compounds present in barley, such as antioxidants, phytic acid, phenolic acids, and saponins, can help to prevent or delay the progression of cancer.