Hulless Barley – A Rediscovered Source for Functional Foods Phytochemical Profile and Soluble Dietary Fibre Content in Naked Barley Varieties and Their Antioxidant Properties

Abstract

The beginning of agriculture is dated back to 10,000 years ago in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Near East. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the cereal founder crops and it is believed that first plant domestication took place within the Fertile Crescent (Lev-Yadun et al., 2000). Hordeum vulgare L. subsp. spontaneum (wild barley) is said to be the ancestor of today’s barley. The spread of barley most likely started in present-day Israel, northern Syria, southern Turkey, eastern Iraq and western Iran. With the movement of civilizations accompanied by the establishment of trade routes the use and cultivation of barley reached Europe. Barley was a popular food in ancient Greece and Italy and used as an ingredient for preparing porridge or unleavened bread. Greek and Roman scholars such as Hippocrates or Pliney the Elder, respectively, considered barley as a healthy and nourishing food and barley gained as well recognition for medical treatments. In the ancient Rome, gladiators believed that barley could increase strength and stamina and thus preferred it to other cereals. Barley reached Spain around 5,000 BC and spread then over today’s Germany and France. Indications of domestication of barley on the British Isles date back until 3,000 BC and one millennium later, barley was introduced to Northern Europe. Probably due to the nourishing properties and the ruggedness of the crop, barley became a major food especially for poor people throughout history (Newman & Newman, 2005).