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Ancient grains

Ancient grains are a grouping of grains and pseudocereals that are considered to have been a main source of nutrition for many ancient civilizations. Little has changed to ancient grains through selective breeding over recent millennia. More widespread cereals such as corn, rice and some varieties of wheat, are the product of thousands of years of selective breeding, often drastically differing from their parent crops over time. Ancient grains recently have been associated as being healthier than modern grains, though their health benefits have been disputed by some nutritionists.

Ancient grains include the grains spelt, Khorasan wheat (Kamut), millet, barley, teff, oats, freekeh, bulgur, sorghum, Farro, einkorn, and emmer; and the pseudocereals quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, and chia. Modern wheat grown today is a hybrid descendant of three wheat varieties considered to be ancient grains: spelt, einkorn, and emmer. International awareness of ancient grains was up from 26% in 2012 to 28% in 2014.

History

The origin of grains goes back to the Neolithic Revolution about 10,000 years ago, when prehistoric communities started to make the transition from hunter-gatherer to farmer. At around 7000 BCE hunter-gatherers were everywhere across Europe and the Americas. By 4000 BCE very few hunter-gatherer communities remained in the eastern Baltic and points north. In order to make a living the main resources exploited were cereals. Through the transition from hunter-gatherer to early agricultural societies, farmers began to domesticate and grow ancient grain varieties in order to feed the growing population. Although humans domesticated these plants, it was their growing dependence on ancient grains that also domesticated humans. Ancient grains paved the way for populations to grow through providing adequate and abundant nutrients that fed the population, military and stored well. Cities, states and armies appeared only in regions of grain cuisines. What made ancient grains advantageous for the humans consuming them 10,000 years ago was that these crops have the virtues of being fast growing, high in carbohydrates, and yielding up to a ton of edible food per hectare cultivated. When ancient grains were traded, each crop had to be coddled until it adjusted to new soil, climates, lengths of days, and seasonal patterns. Then they had to be propagated until there was enough to feed a significant number of people. But some grains no matter how hard the people tried to incorporate them into their culture didn't work, "no waves of native grain ever stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast of North America, from Canada to Patagonia, or from Egypt to South Africa, while amber waves of wheat and barley came to stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific across the spacious skies of Eurasia". Modern varieties of grains have been developed over time through mutation, selective cropping, breeding and research in biotechnology. Ancient grains, however, are said to be largely unchanged from their initial domesticated varieties.

Several ancient grains were worshipped and used by many ancient civilizations, from the Aztecs to the Greeks and Egyptians. Quinoa was called the "mother of all grains" and considered sacred by the Inca people. Amaranth was likewise considered sacred by the Aztecs, and was used as part of a religious ceremony, its cultivation being banned by Spanish colonial authorities. Farro grains are mentioned in the Old Testament.

The most prominent ancient grains that shaped the world:

1.Amaranth

Wild amaranth seeds were first gathered by Native American individuals. Amaranth contributed to the significant protein intake, as well as essential vitamins to populations. The main advantage of amaranth is that both the grain and the leaves are sources of high-quality protein. Amaranth seeds have 16 to 18 percent protein and are “lysine-rich”. Evidence of domestication of amaranth among the Native Americans can be established with archaeologists examining the appearance of pale, white seeds having improved quality and flavor since the first introduction of Amaranth. The core of amaranth growth pre-Columbian period was in Mexico and the Andes, from Peru to northwestern Argentina. It was widely cultivated in the Aztec empire which proved amaranth's ability to sustain millions of people in a region lacking significant sources of animal protein. The Aztec warriors believed amaranth gave them power and strength. As the cultivation of amaranth increased so did its utilization as a toasted grain, as green vegetables, as a drink and it was also popped. After the Columbian conquest, amaranth spread to Asia, North America, Europe and Africa.

2. Barley

The origins of barley are found nearly 10,000 years ago in the ancient Near East with the first domestication of the grain occurring in Southwest Asian Neolithic villages in the Levantine arc of the Fertile Crescent. Barley was one of the first crops early farming communities domesticated in the seventh millennium B.C. Some historians believe that barley wasn't domesticated for the same reason as other ancient grains, as a desire for a food base, but that it may have been cultivated for the brewing of ale or beer. Barley was easily domesticated because of its advantageous genetic makeup and morphology that allowed the plant to evolve quickly and create useful changes in seed dispersal and germination inhibition. Barley eventually spread to the Indus Valley through Iran and today barley is produced worldwide and one of the most productive crops. It is used primarily for animal feed, secondary for brewing beer and lastly for human consumption.

3. Wheat

Wheat appeared as a crop among the world's first farmers 10,000 years ago and Southwest Asia is considered the ancestral homeland of wheat plants. The domestication of wheat was extremely successful because early agricultural farmers collected many wild seeds in increasing quantities for food collection while simultaneously selecting and replanting seeds that were best suited for easy harvesting. Wheat spread out of the Near East to Africa, where it could be found in northern Egypt after 5000 B.C and the grain also spread to South Asia as early as 4000 B.C. Wheat offered the additional advantage of a high protein content of 8-14 percent protein, whereas most common cereal crops like rice and corn had a lower protein content. Grindstones were invented in order to easily extract the hull, allowing the wheat to become digestible and less chewy.

4. Millet

Cereals that do not belong to the wheat, barley, oats, maize, or rice genera are commonly referred to as millets. Millets are several types of small seed grains in the Poaceae grass family. Peasants turned millet into edible food by lifting heavy pestles high above mortars and letting them fall repeatedly until the inedible hulls were cracked, a very laborious task. Millet was an important source of food in the Valley of Mexico and in northeastern Mexico before the domestication of maize. Pearl millet is a very important native African cereal and today it is the sixth largest cereal crop. Pearl millet, finger millet, and foxtail millet are some of the most important cereals grown in India. Crab grass, proso millet, foxtail millet and Japanese millet are widely distributed across temperate Europe and Asia. Millet was the basis of the first cuisine encountered in the Yellow River Valley in ancient China.

Modern Day Ancient Grains

The first reference to ancient grains as a health food was in Daily News (New York) in 1996. Since then, the popularity of ancient grains as a food has increased. In 2014, the American company General Mills launched a product containing "ancient grains" called "Cheerios + Ancient Grains". In 2016 the National Restaurant Association's prediction for the hottest food trends placed ancient grains as No. 15 on the general list, and No. 1 in “Starches/Sides.” The modern trend for ancient grains is turning what was old new again, as ancient grains are rapidly gaining recognition and allegiance among consumers and specialty products are rising.

Many scientists believe that growing ancient grains is a key factor to further drive genetic improvements in plant breeding. With the reintroduction of ancient grains, a rise in specialty products will ensue as well as a rediscovery of traditional recipes and customs. This concept allows to not only an increase in the biological diversity of the agro-ecosystems but also to enrich our food diversity.

Health benefits

Proponents of ancient grains say that they are rich in protein, omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants. The nutritional attributes of ancient grains are that they are higher in vitamins, minerals and protein than more standard grains. Some nutritionists state that they are not inherently more healthy than modern grains, and that ancient and modern grains have similar health benefits when eaten as whole grains. 

Some, but not all, ancient grains are gluten-free. Amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, and teff are gluten-free, but oats and the ancient wheats, including spelt, einkorn, and Khorasan wheat, are not.