Grains are small, hard, dry seeds

SEEDS

SEEDS is a voluntary organisation registered under the Societies Act of India....

 (with or without hull or fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

 layers attached) harvested for human food or animal feed Agronomists also call the plants producing such seeds grains or grain crops.

Harvested, dry grain has advantages over other staple food

Staple food

A staple food is one that is eaten regularly and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a diet, and that supplies a high proportion of energy and nutrient needs. Most people live on a diet based on one or more staples...

s such as the starchy fruits (e.g., plantain

Plantain

Plantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...

, breadfruit

Breadfruit

Breadfruit is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, growing throughout Southeast Asia and most Pacific Ocean islands...

) and roots/tubers (e.g., sweet potato

Sweet potato

The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...

, cassava

Cassava

Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...

, yam

Yam (vegetable)

Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea . These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania...

) in being easy to store, handle and transport. In particular, these qualities have allowed mechanical harvesting, shipping of grain by rail or surface, long-term storage in grain silos, large-scale milling or pressing and industrial agriculture

Industrial agriculture

Industrial farming is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of livestock, poultry, fish, and crops. The methods of industrial agriculture are technoscientific, economic, and political...

 in general. Thus, major commodity exchanges deal with soybean, rice, wheat, maize, canola and other grains but not in vegetables, tubers or many other crops.

Grains and Cereals

In Botany, the term is synonymous with caryopses

Caryopsis

In botany, a caryopsis is a type of simple dry fruit — one that is monocarpelate and indehiscent and resembles an achene, except that in a caryopsis the pericarp is fused with the thin seed coat....

, the fruits of members of the grass family, but in agronomy and commerce, seeds or fruits from other families are also called grains if they resemble caryopses. For example, amaranth is sold as "grain amaranth" and amaranth products may be described as "whole grain." The pre-Hispanic civilizations of the Andes had grain based food systems, but in the higher elevations, none of the grains were cereals.

Cereal grains

Cereal crops are all members of the grass family Cereal grains contain much starch, a carbohydrate that provides dietary energy.

• Warm-season (C₄
  C4 carbon fixation
  C4 carbon fixation is one of three biochemical mechanisms, along with and CAM photosynthesis, used in carbon fixation. It is named for the 4-carbon molecule present in the first product of carbon fixation in these plants, in contrast to the 3-carbon molecule products in plants. fixation is an...
  
  ) cereals

• Cool-season (C₃
  C3 carbon fixation
  carbon fixation is a metabolic pathway for carbon fixation in photosynthesis. This process converts carbon dioxide and ribulose bisphosphate into 3-phosphoglycerate through the following reaction:...
  
  ) cereals

Grain legumes or pulses

Members of the (pea family

Fabaceae

The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...

). Pulses have higher protein than most other plant foods. They may also contain starch or oil. Most widely grown include:

Oilseeds

Grains grown primarily for the extraction of their edible oil. Vegetable oils provide dietary energy and some essential fatty acids. They can be used as fuel or lubricants.

• Mustard Family
  Brassicaceae
  Brassicaceae, a medium sized and economically important family of flowering plants , are informally known as the mustards, mustard flowers, the crucifers or the cabbage family....
  
  

• Aster Family
  Asteraceae
  The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
  
  

• Other families

Historical Impact of Grain Agriculture

Grains—being small, hard and dry—can be stored, measured, and transported more readily than other kinds of food crops, such as fresh fruits, roots and tubers. The advent of grain agriculture allowed excess food to be produced and stored easily for the first time which could have led to both the creation of the first permanent settlements and the division of society into classes.

See also

Cereal Cereal Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran... Vegetable fats and oils Vegetable fats and oils Vegetable fats and oils are lipid materials derived from plants. Physically, oils are liquid at room temperature, and fats are solid. Chemically, both fats and oils are composed of triglycerides, as contrasted with waxes which lack glycerin in their structure...

Legume Perennial grain Perennial grain While many fruit, nut and forage crops are long-lived perennial plants, all major grain crops are annuals or short-lived perennials grown as annuals. Scientists from several nations have argued that perennial versions of today's grain crops could be developed and that these perennial grains could...

Staple foods Domestication Domestication Domestication or taming is the process whereby a population of animals or plants, through a process of selection, becomes accustomed to human provision and control. In the Convention on Biological Diversity a domesticated species is defined as a 'species in which the evolutionary process has been...