Update Time:2024-11-26 17:48:23
Barley is an annual herbaceous plant of the genus Hordeum in the Poaceae family. The culm is thick, smooth and hairless, and erect; the leaf sheath is loosely clasping the stem, mostly hairless or with soft hairs at the base; the ligule is membranous, the leaves are flat, the inflorescence is spike-shaped, the spikelets are dense, and each node has three developed spikelets, and the spikelets are sessile; the lemma is linear-lanceolate and covered with short soft hairs; the caryopsis sticks to the lemma when ripe and does not fall out. There are two main varieties of barley and Tibetan barley.
The Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that the spread of barley crops to China was earlier than the Silk Road. It was cultivated as early as the middle Neolithic Age, and it has a history of 5,000 years. Barley is now widely planted around the world.
Barley is one of China's main crops. The processed products formed by germination and drying of mature barley fruits can be used as a traditional Chinese medicine called malt, which has the effects of promoting qi and digestion, strengthening the spleen and appetizing, and resuming milk and relieving swelling. In addition, barley is the best raw material for producing beer and whiskey. Naked barley (highland barley) can also be roasted and ground into powder to make tsampa, the staple food of the Tibetan people in China.
