Rye
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Rye (Secale cereale) is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than other cereals, making it useful in those regions; its vigorous growth suppresses weeds and provides abundant forage for animals early in the year. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) which includes the cereals wheat and barley. It is likely that rye arrived in Europe as a secondary crop, meaning that it was a minor admixture in wheat as a result of Vavilovian mimicry, and was only later cultivated in its own right.
Rye grain is used for bread, beer, rye whiskey, and animal fodder. In Scandinavia, rye was a staple food in the Middle Ages, and rye crispbread remains a popular food in the region. Europe produces around half of the world's rye; relatively little is traded between countries. A wheat-rye hybrid, triticale, combines the qualities of the two parent crops and is produced in large quantities worldwide. In European folklore, the Template:Lang ("rye wolf") is a carnivorous corn demon or Template:Lang.
Description
Rye is a tall grass grown for its seeds; it can be an annual or a biennial. Depending on environmental conditions and variety it reaches Template:Convert in height. Its leaves are blue-green, long, and pointed. The seeds are carried in a curved head or spike some Template:Convert long. The head is composed of many spikelets, each of which holds two small flowers; the spikelets alternate left and right up the head.<ref name="PlantVillage">Template:Cite web</ref>
The seeds of rye are some 7 or 8 mm long, much larger and less round than wheat.
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Botanical illustration
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Seed in husk
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Different types of grains
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Seeds in quantity
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Origins
The rye genus Secale is in the grass tribe Triticeae, which contains other cereals such as barley (Hordeum) and wheat (Triticum).<ref name="Soreng-2017">Template:Cite journal</ref>
The generic name Secale, related to Italian Template:Lang and French Template:Lang meaning "rye", is of unknown origin but may derive from a Balkan language.<ref>Template:Cite dictionary</ref> The English name rye derives from Old English Template:Lang, related to Dutch Template:Lang, German Template:Lang, and Russian Template:Lang Template:Transliteration, again all with the same meaning.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Rye is one of several cereals that grow wild in the Levant, central and eastern Turkey and adjacent areas. Evidence uncovered at the Epipalaeolithic site of Tell Abu Hureyra in the Euphrates valley of northern Syria suggests that rye was among the first cereal crops to be systematically cultivated, around 13,000 years ago.<ref name="Hillman-2001">Template:Cite journal</ref> However, that claim remains controversial; critics point to inconsistencies in the radiocarbon dates, and identifications based solely on grain, rather than on chaff.<ref name="Colledge-2010">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Domesticated rye occurs in small quantities at a number of Neolithic sites in Asia Minor (Anatolia, now Turkey), such as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Can Hasan III near Çatalhöyük,<ref name="Hillman-1978">Template:Cite journalTemplate:Subscription required</ref><ref name="Sidhu-2019">Template:Cite journal</ref> but is otherwise absent from the archaeological record until the Bronze Age of central Europe, c. 1800–1500 BCE.<ref name="Zohary-2012">Template:Cite book</ref>
It is likely that rye was brought westwards from Asia Minor as a secondary crop, meaning that it was a minor admixture in wheat as a result of Vavilovian mimicry, and was only later cultivated in its own right.<ref name="McElroy-2014">Template:Cite journal</ref> Archeological evidence of this grain has been found in Roman contexts along the Rhine and the Danube and in Ireland and Britain.<ref name="Gyulai-2014">Template:Cite journal page 26.</ref> The Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder was dismissive of a grain that may have been rye, writing that it "is a very poor food and only serves to avert starvation".<ref name="Evans-1981">Template:Cite book</ref> He said it was mixed with emmer "to mitigate its bitter taste, and even then is most unpleasant to the stomach".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Cultivation
Since the Middle Ages, people have cultivated rye widely in Central and Eastern Europe. It serves as the main bread cereal in most areas east of the France–Germany border and north of Hungary. In Southern Europe, it was cultivated on marginal lands.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Rye grows well in much poorer soils than those necessary for most cereal grains. Thus, it is an especially valuable crop in regions where the soil has sand or peat. Rye plants withstand cold better than other small grains, surviving snow cover that would kill winter wheat. Winter rye is the most popular: it is planted and begins to grow in autumn. In spring, the plants develop rapidly.<ref name="Wong-1998"/> This allows it to provide spring grazing, at a time when spring-planted wheat has only just germinated.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The physical properties of rye affect attributes of the final food product such as seed size, surface area, and porosity. The surface area of the seed directly correlates to the drying and heat transfer time.<ref name="Jouki-2012">Template:Cite journal</ref> Smaller seeds have increased heat transfer, which leads to lower drying time. Seeds with lower porosity lose water more slowly during the process of drying.<ref name="Jouki-2012" />
Rye is harvested like wheat with a combine harvester, which cuts the plants, threshes and winnows the grain, and releases the straw to the field where it is later pressed into bales or left as soil amendment. The resultant grain is stored in local silos or transported to regional grain elevators and combined with other lots for storage and distant shipment. Before the era of mechanised agriculture, rye harvesting was a manual task performed with scythes or sickles.<ref name="Jensen-1988">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Jones-2016">Template:Cite book</ref>
Agroecology
Winter rye is any breed of rye planted in the autumn to provide ground cover for the winter. It grows during warmer days of the winter when sunlight temporarily warms the plant above freezing, even while there is general snow cover. It can be used as a cover crop to prevent the growth of winter-hardy weeds.<ref name="Burgos-2006">Template:Cite book</ref>
Rye grows better than any other cereal in heavy clay and light sandy soil, and infertile or drought-affected soils. It can tolerate pH between 4.5 and 8.0, but soils having pH 5.0 to 7.0 are best suited for rye cultivation. Rye grows best in fertile, well-drained loam or clay-loam soils.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> As for temperature, the crop can thrive in subzero environments, assisted by the production of antifreeze polypeptides (different from those produced by some fish and insects) by the leaves of winter rye.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Rye is a common, unwanted invader of winter wheat fields. If allowed to grow and mature, it may cause substantially reduced prices (docking) for harvested wheat.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Pests and diseases
Pests including the nematode Ditylenchus dipsaci and a variety of herbivorous insects can seriously affect plant health.<ref name="Matz-1991">Template:Cite book</ref>
Rye is highly susceptible to the ergot fungus.<ref>ergot Template:Webarchive, online medical dictionary</ref><ref>ergot, Dorland's Medical Dictionary</ref> Consumption of ergot-infected rye by humans and animals results in ergotism, which causes convulsions, miscarriage, necrosis of digits, hallucinations and death. Historically, damp northern countries that depended on rye as a staple crop were subject to periodic epidemics.<ref name="Wong-1998">Template:Cite web</ref> Modern grain-cleaning and milling methods have practically eliminated ergotism, but it remains a risk if food safety vigilance breaks down.<ref name="Belser-Ehrlich-2013">Template:Cite journal</ref>
After an absence of 60 years, stem rust (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) has returned to Europe in the 2020s.<ref name="Annika-2022">Template:Cite journal</ref> Areas affected include Germany, Russia (Western Siberia), Spain, and Sweden.<ref name="Annika-2022" />
Production
| Template:GER | 3,124,200 |
| Template:POL | 2,533,220 |
| Template:RUS | 1,700,000 |
| Template:BLR | 780,000 |
| Template:DEN | 601,130 |
| Template:CHN | 518,640 |
| World | 12,680,515 |
| Template:Small<ref name="faostat">Template:Cite web</ref> | |
In 2023, world production of rye was 12.7 million tonnes, led by Germany with 25% of the total, and Poland and Russia as major secondary producers.
Nutrition
Health effects
Raw rye is 11% water, 76% carbohydrates, 10% protein, and 2% fat. A reference amount of Template:Convert provides Template:Convert of food energy, and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of dietary fiber, B vitamins, such as thiamine and niacin (each at 25% DV), and several dietary minerals, including manganese (130% DV), zinc, phosphorus, and magnesium (26–27% DV).
According to Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, consuming at least Template:Convert per day of rye beta-glucan or Template:Convert per serving of soluble fiber can lower levels of blood cholesterol, a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Eating whole-grain rye, as well as other high-fiber grains, improves regulation of blood sugar (i.e., reduces blood glucose response to a meal).<ref name="Harris-2010">Template:Cite journal</ref> Consuming breakfast cereals containing rye over weeks to months also improved cholesterol levels and glucose regulation.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Health concerns
Like wheat, barley, and their hybrids and derivatives, rye contains glutens and related prolamines, which makes it an unsuitable grain for consumption by people with gluten-related disorders, such as celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and wheat allergy, among others.<ref name="Tovoli-2015">Template:Cite journal</ref> Nevertheless, some wheat allergy patients can tolerate rye or barley.<ref name="Pietzak-2012">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Uses
Culinary
Rye grain is refined into a flour high in gliadin but low in glutenin and rich in soluble fiber. Alkylresorcinols are phenolic lipids present in high amounts in the bran layer (e.g. pericarp, testa and aleurone layers) of wheat and rye (0.1–0.3% of dry weight).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Rye bread, including pumpernickel, is made using rye flour and is a widely eaten food in Northern and Eastern Europe.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Prättälä-2000">Template:Cite journal</ref> In Scandinavia, rye is widely used to make crispbread (Template:Lang); in the Middle Ages it was a staple food in the region, and it remains popular in the 21st century.<ref name="DagensNyheter-2016">Template:Cite news</ref>
Rye grain is used to make alcoholic drinks, such as rye whiskey and rye beer.<ref name="PlantVillage"/> The traditional cloudy and sweet-sour low-alcohol beverage kvass is fermented from rye bread or rye flour and malt.<ref name="Hornsey-2012">Template:Cite book</ref>
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Swedish rye crispbread (Template:Lang)
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Rye whiskey
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Rye beer
Production of hybrids
Plant breeders, starting in the 19th century in Germany and Scotland,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but mainly from the 1950s, worked to develop a hybrid cereal with the best qualities of wheat and rye, now called triticale. Modern triticales are hexaploid with six sets of chromosomes; they are used to produce millions of tons of cereal annually.<ref name="Faccini-2023">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Varieties of rye hold much genetic diversity,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Rabanus-Wallace-2021">Template:Cite book which cites Template:Cite journal</ref> which can be used to improve other crops such as wheat. For example, the pollination abilities of wheat can be improved by the addition of the rye chromosome 4R; this increases the size of the wheat anther and the amount of pollen.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The Template:Vanchor chromosome is the source of many crop disease resistance genes.<ref name="Herrera-2017">Template:Cite journal</ref> Varieties such as Petkus, Insave, Amigo, and Imperial have donated 1R-originating resistance to wheat.<ref name="Herrera-2017" /> AC Hazlet rye is a medium-sized winter rye with resistance to both lodging and shattering.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Rye was the gene donor of Sr31 – a stem rust resistance gene – introgressed into wheat.<ref name="Ellis-2014">Template:Cite journal</ref>
The characteristics of S. cereale have been combined with another perennial rye, S. montanum, to produce S. cereanum, which has the beneficial characteristics of each. The hybrid rye can be grown in harsh environments and on poor soil. It provides improved forage with digestible fiber and protein.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Other uses
Rye is a useful forage crop in cool climates; it grows vigorously and provides plentiful fodder for grazing animals, or green manure to improve the soil.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It forms a good cover crop in winter with its rapid growth and deep roots.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Rye straw is used as livestock bedding, despite the risk of ergot poisoning.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is used on a small scale to make crafts such as corn dollies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> More recently it has found uses as a raw material for bioconversion to products such as the sweetener xylitol.<ref name="Vallejos-2017">Template:Cite book</ref>
Rye flour is boiled with red iron oxide pigments and some additives to make traditional Falun red paint, widely used as a house paint in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In human culture
In European folklore, the Roggenwolf ("rye wolf") is a carnivorous corn demon or Feldgeist, a field spirit shaped like a wolf.<ref name="Golther-2011">Template:Cite book</ref> The Roggenwolf steals children and feeds on them.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The last grain heads are often left at their place as a sacrifice for the agricultural spirits.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In contrast, the Roggenmuhme or Roggenmutter ("rye aunt" or "rye mother") is an anthropomorphic female corn demon with fiery fingers. Her bosoms are filled with tar and may end in tips of iron. Her bosoms are also long, and as such must be thrown over her shoulders when she runs. The Roggenmuhme is completely black or white, and in her hand she has a birch or whip from which lightning sparks. She can change herself into different animals, such as snakes, turtles, and frogs.<ref name="Mannhardt-2014">Template:Cite book</ref>
The classical scholar Carl A. P. Ruck writes that the Roggenmutter was believed to go through the fields, rustling like the wind, with a pack of rye wolves running after her. They spread ergot through the sheaves of harvested rye. According to Ruck, they then lured children into the fields to nurse on the infected grains "like the iron teats of the Roggenmutter".<ref name="Ruck-2019"/> The enlarged reddish ergot-infected grains were known as Wulfzähne (wolf teeth).<ref name="Ruck-2019">Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Clear
References
External links
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