Barley

File:Barley Barn (cropped).jpg at Cressing, Essex, built around 1220; its name means "barley-store".]]

The Old English word for barley was bere.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Clark Hall |first=J. R. |author-link=John Richard Clark Hall |entry=bere |title=A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary |date=2002 |orig-year=1894 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |edition=4th |page=43 }} This survives in the north of Scotland as bere; it is used for a strain of six-row barley grown there.{{cite web |url=http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/getent4.php?plen=18327&startset=1964317&query=BEAR&fhit=bere&dregion=form&dtext=snd#fhit |title=Dictionary of the Scots Language: "DSL – DOST Bere, Beir" |access-date=19 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526194225/http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/getent4.php?plen=18327&startset=1964317&query=BEAR&fhit=bere&dregion=form&dtext=snd |archive-date=26 May 2011 }} Modern English barley derives from the Old English adjective bærlic, meaning "of barley".{{cite encyclopedia |title=Barley |encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary |editor1=J. Simpson |editor2=E. Weiner |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/barley_n?tab=factsheet#27369726 |year=1989 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-861186-8 }} The word barn derives from Old English bere-aern meaning "barley-store".

The name of the genus is from Latin hordeum, barley, likely related to Latin horrere, to bristle.{{cite web |title=hordeum noun |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hordeum |publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=13 January 2024 }}

File:Illustration Hordeum vulgare1.jpg

Barley is a cereal, a member of the grass family with edible grains. Its flowers are clusters of spikelets arranged in a distinctive herringbone pattern. Each spikelet has a long thin awn (to {{convert|160|mm|in|abbr=on}} long), making the ears look tufted. The spikelets are in clusters of three. In six-row barley, all three spikelets in each cluster are fertile; in two-row barley, only the central one is fertile.{{cite web |title=Hordeum vulgare — common barley |url=https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/hordeum/vulgare/ |publisher=Native Plant Trust |access-date=13 January 2024 }} It is a self-pollinating, diploid species with 14 chromosomes.

The genome of barley was sequenced in 2012 by the International Barley Genome Sequencing Consortium and the UK Barley Sequencing Consortium.{{cite journal |author=The International Barley Genome Sequencing Consortium |title=A physical, genetic and functional sequence assembly of the barley genome |journal=Nature |volume=491 |issue=7426 |date=2012 |doi=10.1038/nature11543 |pages=711–716 |pmid=23075845 |bibcode=2012Natur.491..711T |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11543 |hdl=2440/76951 |hdl-access=free }} The genome is organised into seven pairs of nuclear chromosomes (recommended designations: 1H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H and 7H), and one mitochondrial and one chloroplast chromosome, with a total of 5000 Mbp.{{cite web |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mapview/map_search.cgi?chr=barley.inf |title=barley genome at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041029124034/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mapview/map_search.cgi?chr=barley.inf |archive-date=29 October 2004 |url-status=dead |author=mapview |access-date=6 October 2014 }} Details of the genome are freely available in several barley databases.{{cite web |url=https://www.barleygenome.org.uk/genome/background |title=Background: The barley genome |publisher=UK Barley Sequencing Consortium |date=2024 |access-date=12 January 2024 }}

The barley genus Hordeum is relatively closely related to wheat and rye within the Triticeae, and more distantly to rice within the BOP clade of grasses (Poaceae).{{cite journal |last1=Soreng |first1=Robert J. |last2=Peterson |first2=Paul M. |last3=Romaschenko |first3=Konstantin |last4=Davidse |first4=Gerrit |last5=Zuloaga |first5=Fernando O. |last6=Judziewicz |first6=Emmet J. |last7=Filgueiras |first7=Tarciso S. |last8=Davis |first8=Jerrold I. |last9=Morrone |first9=Osvaldo |display-authors=5 |title=A worldwide phylogenetic classification of the Poaceae (Gramineae) |journal=Journal of Systematics and Evolution |volume=53 |issue=2 |date=2015 |doi=10.1111/jse.12150 |pages=117–137 |bibcode=2015JSyEv..53..117S |hdl=11336/25248 |hdl-access=free }} The phylogeny of the Triticeae is complicated by hybridization between species, so there is a network of relationships rather than a simple inheritance-based tree.{{cite journal |last1=Escobar |first1=Juan S |last2=Scornavacca |first2=Céline |last3=Cenci |first3=Alberto |last4=Guilhaumon |first4=Claire |last5=Santoni |first5=Sylvain |last6=Douzery |first6=Emmanuel J. P. |last7=Ranwez |first7=Vincent |last8=Glémin |first8=Sylvain |last9=David |first9=Jacques |display-authors=5 |title=Multigenic phylogeny and analysis of tree incongruences in Triticeae (Poaceae) |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=11 |issue=1 |date=2011 |page=181 |pmid=21702931 |pmc=3142523 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-11-181 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2011BMCEE..11..181E }}

{{clade|style=font-size:100%;line-height:100%

|label1=(Part of Poaceae)

|1={{clade

|label1= BOP clade

|1={{clade

|1=Bambusoideae (bamboos)

|2={{clade

|label1=Pooideae

|1={{clade

|label1=other grasses

|1=(fescue, ryegrass)

|label2=Triticeae

|2={{clade

|1=Hordeum (barley)

|2={{clade

|1=Triticum (wheat)

|2=Secale (rye)

}}

}}

}}

|2=Oryza (rice)

}}

}}

|label2= PACMAD clade

|2={{clade

|1=other grasses

|2={{clade

|1=Sorghum (sorghum)

|2=Zea (maize)

}}

}}

}}

}}

File:Genetic analysis on the spread of barley from 9000 to 2000 BCE.jpg

Barley was one of the first grains to be domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, an area of relatively abundant water in Western Asia,{{cite journal |last1=Badr |first1=A. |last2=M |first2=K. |last3=Sch |first3=R. |last4=El Rabey |first4=H. |last5=Effgen |first5=S. |last6=Ibrahim |first6=H. H. |last7=Pozzi |first7=C. |last8=Rohde |first8=W. |last9=Salamini |first9=F. |display-authors=5 |title=On the Origin and Domestication History of Barley (Hordeum vulgare) |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=17 |issue=4 |date=1 April 2000 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a026330 |pages=499–510 |pmid=10742042 }} around 9,000 BC.{{cite journal |last1=Mascher |first1=Martin |last2=Schuenemann |first2=Verena J |last3=Davidovich |first3=Uri |last4=Marom |first4=Nimrod |last5=Himmelbach |first5=Axel |last6=HUbner |first6=Sariel |last7=Korol |first7=Abraham |last8=David |first8=Michal |last9=Reiter |first9=Ella |last10=Riehl |first10=Simone |last11=Schreiber |first11=Mona |last12=Vohr |first12=Samuel H |last13=Green |first13=Richard E |last14=Dawson |first14=Ian K |last15=Russel |first15=Joanne |last16=Kilian |first16=Benjamin |last17=Muehlbauer |first17=Gary J |last18=Waugh |first18=Robbie |last19=Fahima |first19=Tzion |last20=Krause |first20=Johannes |last21=Weiss |first21=Ehud |last22=Stein |first22=Nils |display-authors=5 |title=Genomic analysis of 6,000-year-old cultivated grain illuminates the domestication history of barley |journal=Nature Genetics |date=2016 |volume=48 |issue=9 |pages=1089–1093 |doi=10.1038/ng.3611 |pmid=27428749 |s2cid=11574248 |url=https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/15d655f0-3be9-4ed4-9338-7c34a1e08754 }} Wild barley (H. vulgare ssp. spontaneum) ranges from North Africa and Crete in the west to Tibet in the east.{{cite book |last1=Zohary |first1=Daniel |first2=Maria |last2=Hopf |title=Domestication of Plants in the Old World: The Origin and Spread of Cultivated Plants in West Asia, Europe, and the Nile Valley |edition=3rd |year=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-850357-6 |pages=59–69 }} A study of genome-wide diversity markers found Tibet to be an additional center of domestication of cultivated barley.{{cite journal |last1=Dai |first1=Fei |last2=Nevo |first2=Eviatar |last3=Wu |first3=Dezhi |last4=Comadran |first4=Jordi |last5=Zhou |first5=Meixue |display-authors=etal |title=Tibet is one of the centers of domestication of cultivated barley |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=109 |issue=42 |date=16 October 2012 |pmid=23033493 |pmc=3479512 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1215265109 |pages=16969–16973 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2012PNAS..10916969D }} The earliest archaeological evidence of the consumption of wild barley, Hordeum spontaneum, comes from the Epipaleolithic at Ohalo II at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee, where grinding stones with traces of starch were found. The remains were dated to about 23,000 BC.{{cite journal |last1=Nadel |first1=Dani |last2=Piperno |first2=Dolores R. |last3=Holst |first3=Irene |last4=Snir |first4=Ainit |last5=Weiss |first5=Ehud |title=New evidence for the processing of wild cereal grains at Ohalo II, a 23 000-year-old campsite on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel |journal=Antiquity |date=December 2012 |volume=86 |issue=334 |pages=990–1003 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00048201 |s2cid=162019976 |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00048201 |quote=Traces of starch found on a large flat stone discovered in the hunter-fisher-gatherer site of Ohalo II famously represent the first identification of Upper Palaeolithic grinding of grasses. Given the importance of this discovery for the use of edible grain, further analyses have now been undertaken. Meticulous sampling combined with good preservation allow the authors to demonstrate that the Ohalo II stone was certainly used for the routine processing of wild cereals, wheat, barley and now oats among them, around 23 000 years ago. |url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |last1=Snir |first1=Ainit |last2=Nadel |first2=Dani |last3=Groman-Yaroslavski |first3=Iris |last4=Melamed |first4=Yoel |last5=Sternberg |first5=Marcelo |last6=Bar-Yosef |first6=Ofer |last7=Weiss |first7=Ehud |title=The Origin of Cultivation and Proto-Weeds, Long Before Neolithic Farming |journal=PLOS ONE |date=22 July 2015 |volume=10 |issue=7 |page=e0131422 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0131422 |doi-access=free |pmid=26200895 |pmc=4511808 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1031422S }} The earliest evidence for the domestication of barley, in the form of cultivars that cannot reproduce without human assistance, comes from Mesopotamia, specifically the Jarmo region of modern-day Iraq, around 9,000–7,000 BC.{{cite book |last1=Ucko |first1=Peter John |last2=Dimbleby |first2=G. W. |title=The Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and Animals |date=1 January 2007 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |isbn=978-0-202-36557-2 |page=164 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6lY9Q4vnrCEC&pg=PA164 |quote=This feature allows us to describe the Jarmo barley as the earliest "domesticated" two-row barley yet found. }}{{cite journal |last1=Clark |first1=Helena H. |title=The Origin and Early History of the Cultivated Barleys: A Botanical and Archaeological Synthesis |journal=The Agricultural History Review |date=1967 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=10–11 |jstor=40273219 }}

Domestication changed the morphology of the barley grain substantially, from an elongated shape to a more rounded spherical one.{{cite journal |last1=Hughes |first1=N. |last2=Oliveira |first2=H. R. |last3=Fradgley |first3=N. |last4=Corke |first4=F. |last5=Cockram |first5=J. |last6=Doonan |first6=J. H. |last7=Nibau |first7=C. |title=μCT trait analysis reveals morphometric differences between domesticated temperate small grain cereals and their wild relatives |journal=The Plant Journal |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |volume=99 |issue=1 |pages=98–111 |date=14 March 2019 |doi=10.1111/tpj.14312 |pmid=30868647 |pmc=6618119 |bibcode=2019PlJ....99...98H }} Wild barley has distinctive genes, alleles, and regulators with potential for resistance to abiotic or biotic stresses; these may help cultivated barley to adapt to climatic changes.{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Xiaolei |last2=Chen |first2=Zhong-Hua |last3=Yang |first3=Chongyi |last4=Zhang |first4=Xuelei |last5=Jin |first5=Gulei |display-authors=etal |title=Genomic adaptation to drought in wild barley is driven by edaphic natural selection at the Tabigha Evolution Slope |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=115 |issue=20 |date=15 May 2018 |pmid=29712833 |pmc=5960308 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1721749115 |pages=5223–5228 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018PNAS..115.5223W }} Wild barley has a brittle spike; upon maturity, the spikelets separate, facilitating seed dispersal. Domesticated barley has nonshattering spikelets, making it much easier to harvest the mature ears. The nonshattering condition is caused by a mutation in one of two tightly linked genes known as Bt₁ and Bt₂; many cultivars possess both mutations. The nonshattering condition is recessive, so varieties of barley that exhibit this condition are homozygous for the mutant allele. Domestication in barley is followed by the change of key phenotypic traits at the genetic level.{{cite journal |last1=Yan |first1=S. |last2=Sun |first2=D. |last3=Sun |first3=G. |title=Genetic divergence in domesticated and non-domesticated gene regions of barley chromosomes |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=e0121106 |date=26 March 2015 |pmid=25812037 |pmc=4374956 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0121106 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1021106Y |doi-access=free }}

The wild barley found currently in the Fertile Crescent may not be the progenitor of the barley cultivated in Eritrea and Ethiopia, indicating that it may have been domesticated separately in eastern Africa.{{cite journal |last1=Orabi |first1=Jihad |last2=Backes |first2=Gunter |last3=Wolday |first3=Asmelash |last4=Yahyaoui |first4=Amor |last5=Jahoor |first5=Ahmed |title=The Horn of Africa as a centre of barley diversification and a potential domestication site |journal=Theoretical and Applied Genetics |volume=114 |issue=6 |date=29 March 2007 |doi=10.1007/s00122-007-0505-5 |pages=1117–1127 |pmid=17279366 |s2cid=31695204 }}

{{Further|Neolithic Revolution}}

File:Issue of barley rations.JPG of barley rations issued monthly to adults (30 or 40 pints) and children (20 pints) written in cuneiform on clay tablet in year 4 of King Urukagina (circa 2350 BCE), from Girsu, Iraq]]

Archaeobotanical evidence shows that barley had spread throughout Eurasia by 2,000 BC. Genetic analysis demonstrates that cultivated barley followed several different routes over time.50px Material was copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License] {{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Martin K. |last2=Kovaleva |first2=Olga |title=Barley heads east: Genetic analyses reveal routes of spread through diverse Eurasian landscapes |journal=PLOS ONE |date=18 July 2018 |volume=13 |issue=7 |pages=e0196652 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0196652 |pmid=30020920 |pmc=6051582 |bibcode=2018PLoSO..1396652L |doi-access=free }} By 4200 BC domesticated barley had reached Eastern Finland.{{cite web |url=http://www.helsinki.fi/hum/ajankohtaista/2013/01/0128b.htm |title=Maanviljely levisi Suomeen Itä-Aasiasta jo 7000 vuotta sitten – Ajankohtaista – Tammikuu 2013 – Humanistinen tiedekunta – Helsingin yliopisto |access-date=6 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006205242/http://www.helsinki.fi/hum/ajankohtaista/2013/01/0128b.htm |archive-date=6 October 2014 |language=Finnish }} Barley has been grown in the Korean Peninsula since the Early Mumun Pottery Period (circa 1500–850 BC).{{cite journal |last=Crawford |first=Gary W. |author2=Gyoung-Ah Lee |year=2003 |title=Agricultural Origins in the Korean Peninsula |journal=Antiquity |volume=77 |issue=295 |pages=87–95 |doi=10.1017/s0003598x00061378 |s2cid=163060564 }} Barley ({{IAST|Yava}} in Sanskrit) is mentioned many times in the Rigveda and other Indian scriptures as a principal grain in ancient India.{{cite journal |last=Witzel |first=Michael E. J. |title=The Linguistic History of Some Indian Domestic Plants |url=https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/8954814/Witzel_Linguistic.pdf?sequence=1 |journal=Journal of Biosciences |date=2009 |volume=34 |issue=6 |pages=829–833 |access-date=25 August 2016 |doi=10.1007/s12038-009-0096-1 |pmid=20093735 |s2cid=6245657 }} Traces of barley cultivation have been found in post-Neolithic Bronze Age Harappan civilization 5,700–3,300 years ago.{{cite web |title=IIT KGP Researchers say Indus Valley civilization in India is older than thought before |url=https://iitkgp.org/content/iit-kgp-researchers-say-indus-valley-civilization-india-older-thought |website=iitkgp.org |publisher=IIT Kharagpur |access-date=25 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918225301/https://iitkgp.org/content/iit-kgp-researchers-say-indus-valley-civilization-india-older-thought |archive-date=18 September 2016 |url-status=dead }} Barley beer was probably one of the first alcoholic drinks developed by Neolithic humans;{{cite book |last=Pellechia |first=Thomas |year=2006 |title=Wine: the 8,000-year-old story of the wine trade |page=10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DSwqswEACAAJ |isbn=978-1-56025-871-1 |publisher=Running Press |location=Philadelphia }} later it was used as currency. The Sumerian language had a word for barley, akiti. In ancient Mesopotamia, a stalk of barley was the primary symbol of the goddess Shala.{{cite book |last1=Black |first1=Jeremy |last2=Green |first2=Anthony |title=Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05LXAAAAMAAJ&q=Inana |publisher=The British Museum Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-7141-1705-8 |page=39 }}

Rations of barley for workers appear in Linear B tablets in Mycenaean contexts at Knossos and at Mycenaean Pylos.{{cite book |last=Chadwick |first=John |author-link=John Chadwick |title=The Mycenaean World |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1976 |isbn=0-521-29037-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/mycenaeanworld00chad |pages=118– }} In mainland Greece, the ritual significance of barley possibly dates back to the earliest stages of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The preparatory kykeon or mixed drink of the initiates, prepared from barley and herbs, mentioned in the Homeric hymn to Demeter. The goddess's name may have meant "barley-mother", incorporating the ancient Cretan word δηαί (dēai), "barley".{{cite journal |last=Tobin |first=Vincent Arieh |title=Isis and Demeter: symbols of divine motherhood |journal=Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt |year=1991 |volume=28 |oclc=936727983 |pages=187–200 |quote=Demeter's name, therefore, could be interpreted in Greek to mean 'barley-mother' |jstor=40000579 |doi=10.2307/40000579 }}{{cite book |last=J. Dobraszczyk |first=Bogdan |title=Cereals and cereal products: chemistry and technology |year=2001 |publisher=Aspen Publishers |location=Gaithersburg, Maryland |isbn=978-0-8342-1767-6 |page=7 }} The practice was to dry the barley groats and roast them before preparing the porridge, according to Pliny the Elder's Natural History.Pliny the Elder. Natural History, xviii.72. Tibetan barley has been a staple food in Tibetan cuisine since the fifth century AD. This grain, along with a cool climate that permitted storage, produced a civilization that was able to raise great armies.{{Cite book |last=Fernandez |first=Felipe Armesto |year=2001 |title=Civilizations: Culture, Ambition and the Transformation of Nature |page=265 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-7432-1650-0 }} It is made into a flour product called tsampa that is still a staple in Tibet.{{cite book |last1=Dreyer |first1=June Teufel |last2=Sautman |first2=Barry |year=2006 |title=Contemporary Tibet: politics, development, and society in a disputed region |page=262 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ou4f4q8gGcIC&q=tsampa&pg=PA262 |isbn=978-0-7656-1354-7 |publisher=Sharpe |location=Armonk, New York }} In medieval Europe, bread made from barley and rye was peasant food, while wheat products were consumed by the upper classes.

{{Further|List of barley cultivars}}

{{anchor|Two-row|Two-row barley|Six-row|Six-row barley}}

Spikelets are arranged in triplets which alternate along the rachis. In wild barley (and other Old World species of Hordeum), only the central spikelet is fertile, while the other two are reduced. This condition is retained in certain cultivars known as two-row barleys. A pair of mutations (one dominant, the other recessive) result in fertile lateral spikelets to produce six-row barleys. {{anchor|vrs1}}A mutation in one gene, vrs1, is responsible for the transition from two-row to six-row barley.{{cite journal |last1=Komatsuda |first1=Takao |last2=Pourkheirandish |first2=Mohammad |last3=He |first3=Congfen |last4=Azhaguvel |first4=Perumal |last5=Kanamori |first5=Hiroyuki |display-authors=etal |title=Six-rowed barley originated from a mutation in a homeodomain-leucine zipper I-class homeobox gene |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=104 |issue=4 |date=23 January 2007 |pmid=17220272 |pmc=1783110 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0608580104 |pages=1424–1429 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2007PNAS..104.1424K }} Brewers in Europe tend to use two-row cultivars and breweries in North America use six-row barley (or a mix), and there are important differences in enzyme content, kernel shape, and other factors that malters and brewers must take into consideration.{{cite book |date=2012 |title=The Oxford Companion to Beer |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |page=734 |isbn=978-0-19-536713-3 |last1=Oliver |first1=Garrett }}

In traditional taxonomy, different forms of barley were classified as different species based on morphological differences. Two-row barley with shattering spikes (wild barley) was named Hordeum spontaneum. Two-row barley with nonshattering spikes was named as H. distichon, six-row barley with nonshattering spikes as H. vulgare (or H. hexastichum), and six-row with shattering spikes as H. agriocrithon. Because these differences were driven by single-gene mutations, coupled with cytological and molecular evidence, most recent classifications treat these forms as a single species, H. vulgare.

File:Hordeum vulgare (6 row barley) (3885627341).jpg|6-row barley has three fertile spikelets per cluster

File:BarleyEars.JPG|Two-row and six-row|alt=Heads of 2-row and 6-row barley

Hulless or "naked" barley (Hordeum vulgare var. nudum) is a form of domesticated barley with an easier-to-remove hull. Naked barley is an ancient food crop, but a new industry has developed around uses of selected hulless barley to increase the digestibility of the grain, especially for pigs and poultry.{{cite journal |last=Bhatty |first=R. S. |title=The potential of hull-less barley |journal=Cereal Chemistry |year=1999 |volume=76 |pages=589–599 |doi=10.1094/CCHEM.1999.76.5.589 |issue=5 }} Hulless barley has been investigated for several potential new applications as whole grain, bran, and flour.{{cite journal |last=Bhatty |first=R. S. |title=β-glucan and flour yield of hull-less barley |journal=Cereal Chemistry |year=2011 |volume=76 |pages=314–315 |doi=10.1094/CCHEM.1999.76.2.314 |issue=2 }} Hulless barley can offer higher protein, increased beta-glucan content, and more efficient handling and processing because of the lack of hull.{{cite web | url=https://www.morningagclips.com/new-varieties-of-barley-have-enhanced-nutritional-profiles/ | title=New Varieties of Barley Have Enhanced Nutritional Profiles | date=14 December 2023 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.seedworld.com/canada/2023/03/01/why-hulless-barley-is-a-big-deal-in-the-food-world-2/ | title=Why Hulless Barley is a Big Deal in the Food World | date=March 2023 }}

{{See also|List of countries by barley production}}

In 2023, world production of barley was 146 million tonnes, led by Russia accounting for 14% of the world total (table). Australia, France, and Germany were secondary producers.

Worldwide barley production in 2023 was fourth among grains, following maize (1.2 billion tonnes), rice (800 million tonnes), and wheat (799 million tonnes).{{cite web |title=Comparison of world production values in 2023; compare data/production group/crops and livestock products/world/item using maize-wheat-rice-barley from pick lists|url=https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#compare |publisher=FAOSTAT, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Corporate Statistical Database |access-date=28 February 2025 |date=2025 }}

Barley is a crop that prefers relatively low temperatures, {{convert|15|to|20|C}} in the growing season; it is grown around the world in temperate areas. It grows best in well-drained soil in full sunshine. In the tropics and subtropics, it is grown for food and straw in South Asia, North and East Africa, and in the Andes of South America. In dry regions it requires irrigation. It has a short growing season and is relatively drought-tolerant.{{harvnb|McGee|1986|p=235 }} Barley is more tolerant of soil salinity than other cereals, varying in different cultivars.{{cite journal |last1=Witzel |first1=Katja |last2=Matros |first2=Andrea |last3=Strickert |first3=Marc |last4=Kaspar |first4=Stephanie |last5=Peukert |first5=Manuela |last6=Mühling |first6=Karl H. |last7=Börner |first7=Andreas |last8=Mock |first8=Hans-Peter |title=Salinity Stress in Roots of Contrasting Barley Genotypes Reveals Time-Distinct and Genotype-Specific Patterns for Defined Proteins |journal=Molecular Plant |volume=7 |issue=2 |date=2014 |doi=10.1093/mp/sst063 |pages=336–355 |pmid=24004485 |doi-access=free }} It has less winter-hardiness than winter wheat and far less than rye.{{cite web |title=Winter-hardiness |url=https://stockingerlab.osu.edu/winter-hardiness |publisher=Stockinger Lab, Ohio State University |access-date=14 January 2024 }}

Like other cereals, barley is typically planted on tilled land. Seed was traditionally scattered, but in developed countries is usually drilled. As it grows it requires soil nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium), often supplied as fertilizers. It needs to be monitored for pests and diseases, and if necessary treated before these become serious. The stems and ears turn yellow when ripe, and the ears begin to droop. Traditional harvesting was by hand with sickles or scythes; in developed countries, harvesting is mechanised with combine harvesters.

File:Tramlines in the sun - geograph.org.uk - 1565399.jpg|Young winter barley in early November,
Scotland, 2009

File:Cessna188AGWagonZKCSE.jpg|Spraying barley for rust fungus,
New Zealand, 1979

File:In The Barley Harvest.jpg|Traditional barley harvest by hand with scythes, England, c. 1886.
Photo Peter Henry Emerson

File:Claas Dominator 85 harvesting winter barley at Ostrittrum.jpg|Harvesting winter barley with a combine harvester, Germany, 2017

{{Further|List of barley diseases}}

Among the insect pests of barley are aphids such as Russian wheat aphid, caterpillars such as of the armyworm moth, barley mealybug, and wireworm larvae of click beetle genera such as Aeolus. Aphid damage can often be tolerated, whereas armyworms can eat whole leaves. Wireworms kill seedlings, and require seed or preplanting treatment.{{cite web |title=Barley |url=https://plantvillage.psu.edu/topics/barley/infos |website=PlantVillage (PennState University) |access-date=14 January 2024 }}

Serious fungal diseases of barley include powdery mildew caused by Blumeria graminis, leaf scald caused by Rhynchosporium secalis, barley rust caused by Puccinia hordei, crown rust caused by Puccinia coronata, various diseases caused by Cochliobolus sativus, Fusarium ear blight,{{Cite journal |last1=Parry |first1=D. W. |last2=Jenkinson |first2=P. |last3=McLeod |first3=L. |year=1995 |title=Fusarium ear blight (scab) in small grain cereals—a review |journal=Plant Pathology |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=207–238 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-3059.1995.tb02773.x |bibcode=1995PPath..44..207P }}

and stem rust (Puccinia graminis).{{cite journal |last1=Djurle |first1=Annika |last2=Young |first2=Beth |last3=Berlin |first3=Anna |last4=Vågsholm |first4=Ivar |last5=Blomström |first5=Anne-Lie |last6=Nygren |first6=Jim |last7=Kvarnheden |first7=Anders |title=Addressing biohazards to food security in primary production |journal=Food Security |year=2022 |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=1475–1497 |doi=10.1007/s12571-022-01296-7 |doi-access=free }}

Bacterial diseases of barley include bacterial blight caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. translucens.{{cite book |last=Mathre |first=D. E. |title=Compendium of barley diseases |publisher=American Phytopathological Society |year=1997 |pages=120 }}

Barley is susceptible to several viral diseases, such as barley mild mosaic bymovirus.{{cite web |url=http://image.fs.uidaho.edu/vide/refs.htm |editor=Brunt, A. A. |editor2=Crabtree, K. |editor3=Dallwitz, M. J. |editor4=Gibbs, A. J. |editor5=Watson, L. |editor6=Zurcher, E. J. |title=Plant Viruses Online: Descriptions and Lists from the VIDE Database |date=20 August 1996 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061018063001/http://image.fs.uidaho.edu/vide/refs.htm |archive-date=18 October 2006 }}{{cite web |url=http://image.fs.uidaho.edu/vide/descr059.htm |title=Barley mild mosaic bymovirus |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208214019/http://image.fs.uidaho.edu/vide/descr059.htm |archive-date=8 December 2006 }} Some viruses, such as barley yellow dwarf virus, vectored by the rice root aphid, can cause serious crop injury.{{cite journal |last=Jedlinski |first=H. |date=1981 |title=Rice Root Aphid, Rhopalosiphum rufiabdominalis, a Vector of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus in Illinois, and the Disease Complex |journal=Plant Disease |publisher=American Phytopathological Society |volume=65 |issue=12 |page=975 |doi=10.1094/pd-65-975 |bibcode=1981PlDis..65..975J }}

For durable disease resistance, quantitative resistance is more important than qualitative resistance. The most important foliar diseases have corresponding resistance gene regions on all chromosomes of barley.

A large number of molecular markers are available for breeding of resistance to leaf rust, powdery mildew, Rhynchosporium secalis, Pyrenophora teres f. teres, Barley yellow dwarf virus, and the Barley yellow mosaic virus complex.{{Cite journal |first1=Jerzy |last1=Chelkowski |first2=Miroslaw |last2=Tyrka |first3=Andrzej |last3=Sobkiewicz |title=Resistance genes in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and their identification with molecular marker |journal=Journal of Applied Genetics |volume=44 |issue=3 |year=2003 |pages=291–309 |pmid=12923305 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Miedaner |first1=T. |last2=Korzun |first2=V. |year=2012 |journal=Phytopathology |doi=10.1094/PHYTO-05-11-0157 |title=Marker-Assisted Selection for Disease Resistance in Wheat and Barley Breeding |volume=102 |issue=6 |pages=560–566 |pmid=22568813 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2012PhPat.102..560M }}

File:Coleoptera larvae (ritnaalden).jpg|Wireworms, the larvae of click beetles, kill barley seedlings.

File:Puccinia hordei G.H. Otth 5410688.jpg|Barley rust, a disease caused by the fungus Puccinia hordei

{{Infobox nutritional value

|name=Cooked barley

|image=Barley grains 3.jpg

|image_alt=

|caption=

|kJ=515

|protein=2.3 g

|fat=0.4 g

|carbs=28.2 g

|fiber=3.8 g

|sugars=0.3 g

|calcium_mg=11

|iron_mg=1.3

|magnesium_mg=22

|phosphorus_mg=54

|potassium_mg=93

|sodium_mg=3

|zinc_mg=0.82

|copper_mg=0.105

|manganese_mg=0.259

|vitC_mg=0

|thiamin_mg=0.083

|riboflavin_mg=0.062

|niacin_mg=2.063

|pantothenic_mg=0.135

|vitB6_mg=0.115

|folate_ug=16

|vitB12_ug=0

|vitA_ug=0

|choline_mg=13.4

|betacarotene_ug=5

|lutein_ug=56

|vitD_iu =0

|vitE_mg=0.01

|vitK_ug=0.8

|water =68.8 g

|cholesterol =0 mg

|note=[https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170285/nutrients= Link to USDA Database entry]

}}

Hulled barley (or covered barley) is eaten after removing the inedible, fibrous, outer husk or hull. Once removed, it is called dehulled barley (or pot barley or scotch barley).{{cite book |last=Simon |first=André |year=1963 |title=Guide to Good Food and Wines: A Concise Encyclopedia of Gastronomy Complete and Unabridged |publisher=Collins |location=London |page=150 }} Pearl barley (or pearled barley) is dehulled to remove most of the bran, and polished. Barley meal, a wholemeal barley flour lighter than wheat meal but darker in colour, is used in gruel. This gruel is known as سويق : sawīq in the Arab world.{{cite book |title=The History of Al-Tabari |volume=VII: The Foundation of the Community |chapter=Muhammad at Al-Madina, A. D. 622-626/ijrah-4 A. H. |author=Tabari |translator=W. Montgomery Watt |translator2=M. V. McDonald |publisher=SUNY Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-88706-344-2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ctvk-fdtklYC&q=barley+sawiq&pg=PA89 |page=89 }}

With a long history of cultivation in the Middle East, barley is used in a wide range of traditional Arabic, Assyrian, Israelite, Kurdish, and Persian foodstuffs including keşkek, kashk, and murri. Barley soup is traditionally eaten during Ramadan in Saudi Arabia.{{cite book |last=Long |first=David E. |title=Culture and customs of Saudi Arabia |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2005 |page=[https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00long/page/50 50] |isbn=978-0-313-32021-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00long/page/50 }} Cholent or hamin (in Hebrew) is a traditional Jewish stew often eaten on the Sabbath, in numerous recipes by both Mizrachi and Ashkenazi Jews; its original form was a barley porridge.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Marks |first=Gil |title=Cholent/Schalet |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Jewish Foods |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |date=2010 |pages=40 }}

In Eastern and Central Europe, barley is used in soups and stews such as ričet. In Africa, where it is a traditional food plant, it has the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development, and support sustainable landcare.{{cite book |author=National Research Council |title=Lost Crops of Africa: Volume I: Grains |url=http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=2305 |access-date=25 July 2008 |volume=1 |date=14 February 1996 |publisher=National Academies Press |isbn=978-0-309-04990-0 |doi=10.17226/2305 |page=243 |chapter=Other Cultivated Grains |chapter-url=http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=2305&page=237 }}

The six-row variety bere is cultivated in Orkney, Shetland, Caithness and the Western Isles of the Scottish Highlands and Islands. When milled into beremeal, it is used locally in bread, biscuits, and the traditional beremeal bannock.{{cite journal |first1=Peter |last1=Martin |first2=Xianmin |last2=Chang |title=Bere Whisky: rediscovering the spirit of an old barley |journal=The Brewer & Distiller International |date=June 2008 |volume=4 |issue=6 |pages=41–43 |url=http://www.ibd.org.uk |access-date=14 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201011938/http://www.ibd.org.uk/ |archive-date=1 December 2008 |url-status=live }}

In Japanese cuisine, barley is mixed with rice and steamed as mugimeshi.{{cite journal |last1=Sano |first1=Anna |last2=Tsuyukubo |first2=Mika |last3=Mabashi |first3=Yuka |last4=Murakami |first4=Yukie |last5=Narita |first5=Hiroshi |last6=Kasai |first6=Midori |last7=Ookura |first7=Tetsuya |title=Translocation of Barley β-amylase into Rice Grains during Cooking Rice Mixed with Barley (Mugimeshi) |journal=Food Science and Technology Research |volume=23 |issue=4 |date=2017 |doi=10.3136/fstr.23.621 |pages=621–625 }} The naval surgeon Takaki Kanehiro introduced it into institutional cooking to combat beriberi, endemic in the armed forces in the 19th century. It became standard prison fare, and remains a staple in the Japan Self-Defense Forces.{{cite journal |last1=Yoji |first1=Yamazaki |title=Kanehiro Takaki : The Great Naval Surgeon Nicknamed the "Barley Baron" |journal=日本腹部救急医学会雑誌 |date=2008 |volume=28 |url=https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1390001204733516160?lang=en |publisher=CiNii |access-date=11 January 2024 |doi=10.11231/jaem.28.873 }}

In Korean cuisine, a similar dish called boribap (보리밥) has been eaten since the Joseon dynasty. In Jeju Island, unripe barley rice was eaten in spring when food was short.{{Cite web |last=Ju |first=Yong-ha |title=보리밥 |trans-title=Barley rice |url=https://folkency.nfm.go.kr/topic/%EB%B3%B4%EB%A6%AC%EB%B0%A5 |website=Korean Folk Encyclopedia |language=Korean}}{{Cite web |title=풋보리밥(섯보리밥) |trans-title=Green barley rice (seotbori-bap) |url=https://www.nongsaro.go.kr/portal/ps/psr/psrc/areaCkRyDtl.ps?menuId=PS03934&cntntsNo=92526 |website=nongsaro.go.kr |language=Korean}}{{Cite web |last=Rural Development Administration |title=풋보리밥 |trans-title=Green barley rice |url=https://terms.naver.com/entry.naver?docId=1627563&cid=48179&categoryId=48237 |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=전통향토음식 용어사전 |language=ko}} Barley rice, hard to cook and linked to poverty, had lower status than white rice. In the 1960s and 1970s, schoolchildren's lunchboxes had to contain barley rice.{{cite web |last=Lee |first=Jae-wook |date=2023-06-08 |title='꽁당보리밥, 보리밥 먹는 사람 진짜 건강해~' |url=https://www.munhaknews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=72571 |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=문학뉴스 |language=ko}} Barley rice has become a nostalgic food for older people, served in specialty restaurants.{{Cite web |title=보리밥 |url=https://www.gangjin.go.kr/culture/convenience/true_taste/barley_rice |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=강진문화관광 |language=ko}}{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Min-jae |title=보리밥 |trans-title=Barley rice |url=https://www.kculture.or.kr/brd/board/640/L/menu/735?brdType=R&bbIdx=12042 |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=한식문화사전 |language=ko}}

File:Barley Seeds.jpg|Barley grains with and without the outer husk

File:BannockBeremeal.jpg|Beremeal bannock, Orkney, 2008

File:Mugimeshi.jpg|Mugimeshi, Japanese steamed barley rice

File:Tokat keshkek.jpg|Keşkek, a Middle Eastern barley stew

Cooked barley is 69% water, 28% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and 0.4% fat (table). In a 100-gram (3.5 oz) reference serving, cooked barley provides {{convert|515|kJ|kcal}} of food energy and is a good source (10% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of essential nutrients, including, dietary fibre, the B vitamin niacin (14% DV), and dietary minerals, including iron (10% DV) and manganese (12% DV) (table).[https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170285/nutrients= USDA Database entry] Accessed 14 January 2024.

According to Health Canada and the US Food and Drug Administration, consuming at least 3 grams per day of barley beta-glucan can lower levels of blood cholesterol, a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.{{cite web |url=http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=101.81 |title=21 CFR Part 101 [Docket No. 2004P-0512], Food Labeling: Health Claims; Soluble Dietary Fiber From Certain Foods and Coronary Heart Disease |publisher=US Food and Drug Administration |date=22 May 2006 |access-date=2 December 2015 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/label-etiquet/claims-reclam/assess-evalu/barley-orge-eng.php |title=Summary of Health Canada's Assessment of a Health Claim about Barley Products and Blood Cholesterol Lowering |publisher=Health Canada |date=12 July 2012 |access-date=2 December 2015 }}

Eating whole-grain barley, a high-fibre grain, improves regulation of blood sugar (i.e., reduces blood glucose response to a meal).{{cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=Kristina A. |last2=Kris-Etherton |first2=Penny M. |title=Effects of Whole Grains on Coronary Heart Disease Risk |journal=Current Atherosclerosis Reports |volume=12 |issue=6 |date=2010 |doi=10.1007/s11883-010-0136-1 |pages=368–376 |pmid=20820954 |s2cid=29100975 }} Consuming breakfast cereals containing barley over weeks to months improves cholesterol levels and glucose regulation.{{cite journal |last=Williams |first=P. G. |title=The benefits of breakfast cereal consumption: a systematic review of the evidence base |journal=Advances in Nutrition |volume=5 |issue=5 |pages=636S–673S |date=September 2014 |pmid=25225349 |pmc=4188247 |doi=10.3945/an.114.006247 }}

Barley contains gluten, which makes it an unsuitable grain for consumption by people with gluten-related disorders, such as coeliac disease, non-coeliac gluten sensitivity and wheat allergy sufferers.{{cite journal |last1=Tovoli |first1=F. |last2=Masi |first2=C. |last3=Guidetti |first3=E. |last4=Negrini |first4=G. |last5=Paterini |first5=P. |last6=Bolondi |first6=L. |title=Clinical and Diagnostic Aspects of Gluten Related Disorders |journal=World Journal of Clinical Cases |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=275–84 |date=March 2015 |pmid=25789300 |pmc=4360499 |doi=10.12998/wjcc.v3.i3.275 |doi-access=free }} Nevertheless, some wheat allergy patients can tolerate barley.{{cite journal |last=Pietzak |first=M. |title=Celiac disease, wheat allergy, and gluten sensitivity: when gluten free is not a fad |journal=Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition |volume=36 |issue=1 Suppl |pages=68S–75S |date=January 2012 |pmid=22237879 |doi=10.1177/0148607111426276 }}

{{Further|List of barley-based beverages}}

Barley, made into malt, is a key ingredient in beer and whisky production. Two-row barley is traditionally used in German and English beers. Six-row barley was traditionally used in US beers, but both varieties are in common usage now.{{Cite book |last=Ogle |first=Maureen |year=2006 |title=Ambitious brew : the story of American beer |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ambitiousbrewsto00maur/page/70 70]–72 |url=https://archive.org/details/ambitiousbrewsto00maur |url-access=registration |quote=and six-row barley was traditionally used in US beers. |isbn=978-0-15-101012-7 |location=Orlando |publisher=Harcourt }} Distilled from green beer,{{harvnb|McGee|1986|p=481 }} Scottish and Irish whisky are made primarily from barley.{{harvnb|McGee|1986|p=490 }} About 25% of American barley is used for malting, for which barley is the best-suited grain.{{harvnb|McGee|1986|p=471 }} Accordingly, barley is often assessed by its malting enzyme content.{{cite book |last1=Hayes |first1=Patrick M. |last2=Castro |first2=Ariel |last3=Marquez-Cedillo |first3=Luis |last4=Corey |first4=Ann |last5=Henson |first5=Cynthia |display-authors=etal |chapter=Genetic diversity for quantitatively inherited agronomic and malting quality traits |editor=Roland von Bothmer |editor2=Theo van Hintum |editor3=Helmut Knüpffer |editor4=Kazuhiro Sato |title=Diversity in Barley (Hordeum vulgare) |publisher=Elsevier |publication-place=Amsterdam, Boston |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-444-50585-9 |oclc=162130976 |pages=201–226 |doi=10.1016/S0168-7972(03)80012-9 }} Barley wine is a style of strong beer from the English brewing tradition. An 18th-century alcoholic drink of the same name was made by boiling barley in water, then mixing the barley water with white wine, borage, lemon and sugar. In the 19th century, a different barley wine was prepared from recipes of ancient Greek origin.

Nonalcoholic drinks such as barley water{{cite book |last=Ayto |first=John |year=1990 |title=The glutton's glossary : a dictionary of food and drink terms |pages=[https://archive.org/details/gluttonsglossary00ayto/page/16 16]–17 |url=https://archive.org/details/gluttonsglossary00ayto |url-access=registration |quote=barley water was used. |isbn=978-0-415-02647-5 |publisher=Routledge |location=London }} and roasted barley tea have been made by boiling barley in water.{{Cite book |editor-last=Clarke |editor-first=R. J. |year=1988 |title=Coffee |page=84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n9ZEMquvPoYC&q=mugicha&pg=PA84 |isbn=978-1-85166-103-9 |publisher=Elsevier Applied Science |location=London }} In Italy, roasted barley is sometimes used as coffee substitute, caffè d'orzo (barley coffee).{{cite web |title=Caffè d'orzo: il caffè senza caffeina |url=https://www.cibo360.it/alimentazione/cibi/bevande_analcoliche/caffe_orzo.htm |website=cibo360 |access-date=13 January 2024 |language=Italian |trans-title=Barley Coffee: Coffee without Caffeine }}

File:HectorTurning (cropped).jpg|Traditional floor malting in Scotland for malt whisky

File:Mash-Jinx (cropped).jpg|Barley grains being mashed (heated with water) for brewing beer

File:Hauf an a hauf 1 (cropped).jpg|Scotch whisky and beer are both made from barley.

File:Boricha (barley tea) (cropped).jpg|Boricha, Korean
roasted barley tea

File:LPCC-467-Pinso amb farina d'ordi, granulat.jpg pellets]]

Some 70% of the world's barley production is used as livestock feed,{{cite web |last1=Akar |first1=Taner |last2=Avci |first2=Muzaffer |last3=Dusunceli |first3=Fazil |title=Barley: Post-Harvest Operations |date=15 June 2004 |url=https://www.fao.org/3/a-au997e.pdf |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |archive-date=21 January 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121033135/https://www.fao.org/3/au997e/au997e.pdf }} for example for cattle feeding in western Canada.{{cite web |url=http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/beef/news/vbn0804a3.htm |title=Corn or Barley for Feeding Steers? |publisher=Government of Ontario |access-date=6 October 2014 |archive-date=20 December 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061220062612/http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/beef/news/vbn0804a3.htm }} In 2014, an enzymatic process was devised to make a high-protein fish feed from barley, suitable for carnivorous fish such as trout and salmon.{{Cite web |last=Avant |first=Sandra |title=Process Turns Barley into High-protein Fish Food |work=USDA Agricultural Research Service |access-date=9 September 2014 |date=14 July 2014 |url=https://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2014/140714.htm }}

Barley straw has been placed in mesh bags and floated in fish ponds or water gardens to help prevent algal growth without harming pond plants and animals. The technique's effectiveness is at best mixed.{{cite web |url=http://www.btny.purdue.edu/pubs/APM/APM-1-W.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030408210226/http://www.btny.purdue.edu/Pubs/APM/APM-1-W.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 April 2003 |title=Barley straw for algae control |author=Lembi, Carole A. |publisher=Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana }}

Barley grains were once used for measurement in England, there being nominally three or four barleycorns to the inch.{{Cite web |title=Barleycorn |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/barleycorn |publisher=Collins Dictionary |year=2023 |access-date=18 September 2023 }} By the 19th century, this had been superseded by standard inch measures.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Standard Measure, Weight |url=https://archive.org/details/pennycyclopdias16longgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/pennycyclopdias16longgoog/page/n440 436] |encyclopedia=The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge |author=George Long |volume=26, Ungulata – Wales |year=1842 |publisher=C. Knight }} In ancient Mesopotamia, barley was used as a form of money, the standard unit of weight for barley, and hence of value, being the shekel.{{cite journal |last=Powell |first=Marvin A. |title=Money in the Orient: Money in Mesopotamia |journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient |date=1996 |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=224–242 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |doi=10.1163/1568520962601225 |jstor=3632646 }}

In the Old English poem Beowulf, and in Norse mythology, Scyld Scefing (the second name meaning "with a sheaf") and his son Beow ("Barley") are associated with the grain, or are possibly corn-gods; J. R. R. Tolkien wrote a poem "King Sheave" about them, and based a major element of his legendarium, the Old Straight Road from Middle-earth to the earthly paradise of Valinor, on their story.{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |chapter='King Sheave' and 'The Lost Road' |editor1-last=Ovenden |editor1-first=Richard |editor1-link=Richard Ovenden |editor2-last=McIlwaine |editor2-first=Catherine |title=The Great Tales Never End: Essays in Memory of Christopher Tolkien |year=2022 |publisher=Bodleian Library Publishing |isbn=978-1-85124-565-9 |pages=166–180 }} William of Malmesbury's 12th century Chronicle tells the story of the related figure Sceafa as a sleeping child in a boat without oars with a sheaf of corn at his head.{{cite book |author-link=Gale Owen-Crocker |last=Owen-Crocker |first=Gale R. |year=2000 |title=The Four Funerals in Beowulf |publisher=Manchester University Press }} Axel Olrik identified Peko, a parallel "barley-figure" in Finnish culture, in turn connected by R.D. Fulk with the Eddaic Bergelmir.{{cite journal |last=Fulk |first=R.D. |year=1989 |title=An eddic analogue to the Scyld Scefing story |journal=The Review of English Studies |issue=159 |pages=313–322 |doi=10.1093/res/XL.159.313 }}

In English folklore, the figure of John Barleycorn in the folksong of the same name is a personification of barley, and of the beer made from it. In the song, John Barleycorn is represented as suffering attacks, death, and indignities that correspond to the various stages of barley cultivation, such as reaping and malting; but he is revenged by getting the men drunk: "And little Sir John and the nut-brown bowl / Proved the strongest man at last."{{cite book |last=de Vries |first=Ad |title=Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery |year=1976 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/34 34–35] |publisher=North-Holland Publishing Company |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-0-7204-8021-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/34 }}{{cite web |title=John Barleycorn Must Die |url=https://www.uapress.com/product/john-barleycorn-must-die/ |publisher=University of Arkansas Press |access-date=14 January 2024 |url-status=live |archive-date=14 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114155053/https://www.uapress.com/product/john-barleycorn-must-die/ }} The folksong "Elsie Marley" celebrates an alewife of County Durham with lines such as "And do you ken Elsie Marley, honey? / The wife that sells the barley, honey". The antiquary Cuthbert Sharp records that Elsie Marley was "a handsome, buxom, bustling landlady, and brought good custom to the [ale] house by her civility and attention."{{cite web |last=Sharp |first=Cuthbert |author-link=Cuthbert Sharp |title=The Bishoprick Garland or a Collection of Legends, Songs, Ballads, &c. |year=1834 |url=https://gredos.usal.es/bitstream/handle/10366/82881/SC_CuthbertSharp_ed_Bishoprick_1834.pdf;jsessionid=B5030120D13E39DBC005322747FB6553?sequence=2 |page=48 |website=Universitas Studii Salamantini |access-date=15 January 2024 }}

English pub names such as The Barley Mow,{{cite web |title=A history of British pub names |url=https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/a-history-of-british-pub-names/ |publisher=The History Press |access-date=30 December 2023 }} John Barleycorn, Malt Shovel,{{cite news |title=Middle Level |newspaper=Lynn Advertiser |date=19 March 1870 |page=8 }} and Mash Tun{{cite web |title=The Mash Tun: Brighton's Beating Heart |url=https://www.mashtun.pub/ |website=Mash Tun |access-date=13 January 2024 }} allude to barley's role in the production of beer.

File:John Barleycorn MET DP-300-063 (cropped).jpg|Porcelain figurine of John Barleycorn, complete with songsheet and little brown jug of beer

File:The Barley Mow, Clifton Hampden (wide).jpg|English pub names such as The Barley Mow (like this pub at Clifton Hampden) allude to the use of barley to make the beer available inside.

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book |last=McGee |first=Harold |title=On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen |publisher=Unwin |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-04-440277-0}}

{{refend}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Cookbook-inline|Barley}}

{{Barley}}

{{Cereals}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q11577}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Barley

Category:Forages

vulgare

Category:Phytoremediation plants

Category:Founder crops

Category:Millets