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Order: Poales;
Family: Poaceae;
Genus: Hordeum;
Species and synonyms: Common barley (Hordeum vulgare).

GBIF: Hordeum vulgare L.

Common barley (lat. Hordeum vulgare) is a species of herbaceous plants from the family Poaceae, order Poales. One of the oldest agricultural crops in human history (began to be cultivated about 10,000 years ago). Barley grain is widely used for food, technical, and fodder purposes, including in the brewing industry, and in the production of pearl barley and barley groats. Barley is one of the most valuable concentrated animal feeds (contains complete protein, rich in starch); in Russia, up to 70% of barley is used for fodder purposes.

Wild barley grows from North Africa to Tibet. Cultivated barley often goes wild near sowing areas and is found as a weed along roads and on embankments. Winter barley is a younger crop than spring barley (about 2,000 years younger). In many countries, there is a transition to growing winter barley (Romania, Bulgaria, Germany, France, Hungary, Poland). Winter barley accounts for about 10% of world crop production. In Russia, barley has long been of great importance as a food product in areas where the cultivation of other grains is impossible.

Barley grain is used for making flour, pearl barley and barley groats, animal feed, beer and kvass production, coffee substitutes, as well as for the production of various whiskeys, for medical and cosmetic purposes. Barley is consumed by humans mainly in the form of groats. Barley is rarely ground into baking flour (it does not produce porous dough). In some parts of Finland, barley flour is used to make yeast-free flatbreads (Finnish: rieska) baked on birch bark. In baking, barley flour is usually mixed with rye or wheat flour.

In cooking, barley is used in the form of pearl barley (polished grain) and barley groats (crushed grain). They are used to make porridges (milk, water-based, with meat, mushrooms, vegetables), soups (mushroom, rassolnik, solyanka), casseroles, side dishes (for meat, poultry, fish), cutlets, meatballs, dumplings, and fillings (for stuffed cabbage rolls, peppers, pies). Barley is also used for making beer (malt), kvass, whiskey, and coffee beverages. Barley pairs well with meat (beef, pork, chicken), mushrooms, onions, carrots, potatoes, garlic, herbs (dill, parsley), butter, and sour cream.

Barley is rich in protein (up to 12%), carbohydrates (starch, fiber), vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, E, K), folic acid, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, and silicon. In folk medicine, barley is used as an anti-inflammatory, coating, diuretic, choleretic, expectorant, tonic, and general tonic remedy for gastritis, colitis, enteritis, constipation, cystitis, nephritis, bronchitis, vitamin deficiency, and for strengthening the immune system.