Description

Organic Cereals – Pearl Barley (rolled) from Switzerland

History

In the Nile and Mesopotamia region of the Middle East, cultivated barley evolved from wild barley. Around 48,000 BC, wild barley was already harvested, it lasted until 8000 BC until the appearance of the first cultivated hybrid forms (we do not know the creators of this new variety). Barley has been cultivated continuously in Switzerland for 7000 years. This type of grain has been passed down from generation to generation. Due to its adaptability and precocity, it can be grown from remote alpine valleys to an altitude of 3900 feet in spring. Barley was used for bread, soups, poridges, beer, flour, but also decoctions for medicinal purposes. Since 2003, organic barley from microbreweries has been grown in the mountainous region of the canton of Graubünden. Thanks to its early flowering, spring barley has a very short growing season and is therefore suitable for growing from the highest altitudes. Varieties of Swiss origin have been grown, but forgotten, in growing areas in the United States to be replaced unfortunately by GMO crops. A local variety from the Lucerne region of Switzerland saved barley cultivation in North America during an outbreak of black rust in the mid-1930s. This variety of barley sown in the American Midwest was able to resist the disease.

Botany

Barley (Hordeum vulgare), beards can be twice as long as the cob. With the short growing season, barley can be grown in drier regions than wheat.

Compared to other cereals, barley blooms extremely early. Another peculiarity is the construction of the cob of barley different from other cereals.

Culture

In 2018, the quantity delivered to the Grand Alpin cooperative was only 135 tons of organic table barley, 153 tons of malting barley and 4.7 tons of beta barley which is a specially grown barley variety, non-GMO hybrid, with a particularly high content of beta-glucans rich in unbranched linear polysaccharides.

Nutrition

Pearl barley is comparable to wheat for its content of calories, proteins, vitamins and minerals, although some varieties are richer in lysine.