Alternative grains

DEFINITION: Grains cultivated for food as alternatives to traditional high-yield grain crops

Various minor cereals, new cereals, and pseudocereals can be cultivated in climates that are not conducive to the growing of other high-yield grain crops, providing alternative food sources and avoiding the environmental damage caused by the fertilizers and pesticides used in large-scale intensive farming.

More than one-half of the calories consumed daily by the world’s human come from grains. Most of these grains are produced by plants of the grass family, Poaceae. Major cereal plants domesticated many centuries ago include rice (Oryza sativa), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and maize or corn (Zea mays). Other important grain crops, also plants of the grass family, include barley (originating in Asia), millets and sorghum (originating in Africa), and oats and rye (originating in Europe).

Since the early twentieth century, the scientific principles of genetics have been applied to improvements of crop plants, with some of the most notable improvements occurring between 1940 and 1970. As a result of irrigation, improved genetic varieties, and the use of large amounts of fertilizers and pesticides, yields of major crops greatly increased. Norman Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his contributions to these developments, which came to be called the Green Revolution. However, it soon became apparent that the Green Revolution was not the boon first envisioned. For maximum yield, large-scale farming involving huge investments of capital is required. Also, environmentalists became concerned over the resulting and the environmental damage caused by the use of large amounts of fertilizer and pesticides.

Various alternatives to such farming have been proposed. In the case of grain crops, several approaches offer promise, including more widespread use of minor cereals, especially those tolerant of unfavorable growing conditions; development of new cereal plants through hybridization or other genetic manipulations; and utilization of pseudocereals, nongrass crop plants that produce fruits (grains) similar to those of cereal plants.

Minor Cereals and New Cereals

Most sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) grown in the United States is used for silage (milo) or molasses (sweet sorghum). In Africa and India, various grain sorghums are grown in regions where rainfall is insufficient for most other grain crops. Well adapted to hot, dry climates, these grains are used to make a pancake-like bread. Millet refers to several grasses that are useful cereal plants because they also tolerate drought well. In Africa the most important are pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and finger millet (Eleusine coracana). Grains of both species can be stored for long periods and are used to make breads and other foods. Other, perhaps less important, grain plants also called millet include foxtail millet (Setaria italica), native to India but grown in China; proso millet (Pamicum milaeceum), native to China but grown in Russia and central Asia; sanwa millet (Echinochloa frumentacea), cultivated in East Asia; and teff (Eragrostis teff), an important food and forage plant of Ethiopia. Such grain sorghums and millets have the potential to grow in areas with hot, dry climates far beyond the regions where they are now being utilized.

In a distinct category is wild rice (Zizania aquatica). Native to the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, it has been, and still is, harvested by Native Americans. Like the common (but unrelated) rice, it grows in flooded fields. Attempts to cultivate wild rice since the 1950s have been somewhat successful as the result of the development of nonshattering varieties. However, due to the delicate method in which it must be harvested, it is not practical for large-scale cultivation and has thus remained an expensive, gourmet item.

Two cereal plants have promise because of the high protein content of their grains. Wild oat (Avena sterilis) is a disease-resistant plant with large grains. Job’s tears (Coix lachryma-jobi), native to Asia, is now planted throughout the Tropics. Research on these and related species continues.

Although all important cereal plants have been improved, either by or by more conventional genetic techniques, the most notable new alternative grain plant is triticale (Triticosecale sp.). The first human-made cereal, it is the result of crossing wheat with rye. The sterile hybrid from such a cross was made fertile through the doubling of its chromosomes; thus, triticale varieties produce viable seeds. Triticale combines the superior traits of each of its parents: the cold tolerance of rye and the higher yield of wheat. The protein content of triticale compares favorably with that of wheat, and its quality, as measured by lysine content, is higher. However, flour made from triticale is inferior for making bread unless mixed with wheat flour. One reason that production of many grain crops has become less cost-efficient is that they must be sown every year, giving their root system little time to develop into a stronger plant with longevity. Agricultural scientists remained hopeful that the utilization of genetic variation techniques, including mutagenesis, may result in the development of a perennial version of a grain crop.

Pseudocereals

Pseudocereals are plants that are not in the grass family but that produce nutritious hard, grainlike fruits that can be stored, processed, and prepared for food much like grains. They belong to several plant families. Many grow under conditions not suitable for the major cereal crops. Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), of the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae, probably originated in China. It tolerates cool conditions and is adapted to short growing seasons, thus permitting it to be grown in the temperate regions of North America and Europe. In the United States, it is often associated with pancakes, but it is used in larger quantities for livestock feed. In Eastern Europe, the milled grain is used for soups.

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), of the goosefoot family, Chenopodiaceae, has been cultivated by Indigenous peoples of the Andes mountains for centuries. The leafy annual produces grainlike fruits (actually achenes) with a high protein content and exceptional quality (high in lysine and other essential amino acids). After its bitter saponins have been removed, quinoa can be cooked and eaten like rice or made into a flour. Quinoa has been cultivated in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado since the 1980s and has become a gourmet food in the United States.

Most amaranth (Amaranthus sp.) plants are New World weeds. They belong to the amaranth family, Amaranthaceae. A few species were used by Aztecs and other native peoples, but their use was banned by the Spanish. Since the late 1970s, plant breeders have targeted several species for improvement. The results are highly nutritious grains rich in lysine that are suitable for making flour. Research in Pennsylvania and California has resulted in improved varieties.

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