Naked barley: The importance and the use in the human nutrition

Abstract

Barley was probably grown before other cereals and remained an important human food crop for many millennia. In recent times barely has been mainly used as animal feed or has been processed into beer malt, while only a minor amount of barely has been used in the food production. The chemical composition of the barely grain points out to its alimentary and physiological quality, which provide a possibility for a wider range of uses for barely in the production of foods for human consumption. The positive effect of certain barley components on human health, such as soluble plant fibers ß-glucans, makes barley a crop beneficial for health and provides its place in the functional food production. Besides ß-glucans there are numerous advantages of naked barely over hulled barley in human nutrition.

Ječam je verovatno počeo da se gaji pre ostalih žita i dugo godina je bio jedna od glavnih namirnica u ishrani ljudi. U današnje vreme ječam se uglavnom koristi kao stočna hrana ili se prerađuje u pivski slad, dok kao namirnica u direktnoj ljudskoj ishrani ima podređenu ulogu. Hemijski sastav zrna ječma jasno ukazuje na njegov prehrambeno-fiziološki kvalitet. što stvara mogućnost za njegovu šini primenu u različitim prehrambenim proizvodima za ljudsku ishranu. Pozitivan efekat pojedinih sastojaka ječma na ljudsko zdravlje, kao šio su na primer rastvorljiva biljna vlakna ß-glukani, obezbedio je ječmu status zdravstveno korisne biljke i mesto u proizvodnji tzv. funkcionalne hrane. U ljudskoj ishrani golozrni ječam, pored većeg sadržaja beta glukana, ima i niz drugih prednosti u odnosu na plevičaste forme ječma.