View source for Rye

{{otheruses}}
{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Rye
| image = Secale_cereale.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Liliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Poales]]
| familia = [[Poaceae]]
| subfamilia = [[Pooideae]]
| tribus = [[Triticeae]]
| genus = [[Secale]]
| species = '''''S. cereale'''''
| binomial = ''Secale cereale''
| binomial_authority = [[Friedrich August Marschall von Bieberstein|M.Bieb.]]
}}

'''Rye''' (''Secale cereale'') is a [[Poaceae|grass]] grown extensively as a grain and forage crop.  It is a member of the wheat tribe ([[Triticeae]]) and is closely related to [[barley]] and [[wheat]].  Rye grain is used for [[flour]], [[rye bread]], [[rye beer]], some [[rye whiskey|whiskies]], some [[vodka]]s, and animal [[fodder]].  It can also be eaten whole, either as boiled rye berries, or by being rolled, similar to [[rolled oats]].

Rye is a [[cereal]] and should not be confused with [[Ryegrass]] which is used for lawns, pasture, and hay for livestock.

==History==
The early history of rye is unclear. The wild ancestor of rye has not been identified with certainty, but is one of a number of species that grow wild in central and eastern Turkey, and adjacent areas. Domesticated rye occurs in small quantities at a number of Neolithic sites in Turkey, such as [[PPNB]] [[Can Hasan III]], but is otherwise virtually absent from the archaeological record until the Bronze Age of central Europe, c. 1800-1500 BC.<ref>Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, ''Domestication of plants in the Old World'', third edition (Oxford: University Press, 2000), p. 75</ref> It is possible that rye travelled west from Turkey as a minor admixture in wheat, and was only later cultivated in its own right. Although archeological evidence of this grain have been found in Roman contexts along the Rhine Danube and in the British Isles, [[Pliny the Elder]] is dismissive of rye, writing that it "is a very poor food and only serves to avert starvation" and wheat is mixed into it "to mitigate its bitter taste, and even then is most unpleasant to the stomach" (''[[Natural History (Pliny)|N.H.]]'' 18.40).

Since the [[Middle Ages]], rye has been widely cultivated in [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]] and is the main [[bread]] cereal in most areas east of the [[France|French]]-[[Germany|German]] border and north of [[Hungary]].

Claims of much earlier cultivation of rye, at the [[Epipalaeolithic]] site of [[Tell Abu Hureyra]] in the Euphrates valley of northern Syria, remain controversial. Critics point to inconsistencies in the radiocarbon dates, and identifications based solely on grain, rather than on chaff.

==Agronomy==
[[Image:Wild rye.jpg|thumb|left|200px|wild rye]]
Rye, alone or overseeded, is planted as a livestock forage or harvested for hay. It is highly tolerant of soil acidity and is more tolerant of dry and cool conditions than [[wheat]], though not as tolerant of cold as [[barley]]. In Turkey, rye is often grown as an admixture in wheat crops. It is appreciated for the flavour it brings to bread, as well as its ability to compensate for wheat's reduced yields in hard years.

The [[Flame (moth)|flame moth]], [[rustic shoulder-knot]] and [[turnip moth]] are among the species of [[Lepidoptera]] whose larvae feed on rye. 

===Diseases===
{{Main|List of rye diseases}}
Rye is highly susceptible to the [[ergot]] fungus.  Consumption of ergot-infected rye by humans and animals results in a serious medical condition known as [[ergotism]].  Ergotism can cause both physical and mental harm, including convulsions, miscarriage, necrosis of digits, and hallucinations.  Historically, damp northern countries that have depended on rye as a staple crop were subject to periodic epidemics of this condition.

==Uses==
[[Image:2005rye.PNG|thumb|right|Rye output in 2005]]
[[Rye bread]], including [[pumpernickel]], is a widely eaten food in Northern and Eastern Europe.  Rye is also used to make the familiar [[crisp bread]].  Rye [[flour]] has a lower [[gluten]] content than [[wheat]] flour, and 
contains a higher proportion of [[soluble fiber]].

Some other uses of rye include [[rye whiskey]] and use as an [[alternative medicine]] in a liquid form, known as rye extract. Often marketed as Oralmat, rye extract is a liquid obtained from rye and similar to that extracted from [[wheatgrass]]. Its benefits are said to include a strengthened [[immune system]], increased energy levels and relief from [[allergies]], but there is no clinical evidence for its efficacy.

Rye straw is used to make [[corn dolly|corn dollies]].

==See also==
*[[Ergot]] and [[ergotism]]
*[[Rye beer]]
*[[Rye whisky]]

== References ==
<references/>
* {{ITIS|taxon = Secale cereale|ID = 42089|date = September 22|year = 2002}}
{{unimelb|Secale.html}}

==External links==
{{commons|Secale cereale}}
*Gordon Hillmann: ''[http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/arn/hol/2001/00000011/00000004/art00172 New evidence of Lateglacial cereal cultivation at Abu Hureyra on the Euphrates]'', in: [[The Holocene]] 11/4 (July 2001), p. 383-393.
*[http://digital.library.unt.edu/permalink/meta-dc-1498:1 ''Growing Rye''] hosted by the [http://www.library.unt.edu/govinfo/ UNT Government Documents Department]

{{Cereals}}

[[Category:Cereals]]
[[Category:Grasses]]