Buckwheat in the context of Groat (grain)

A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize (corn). Edible grains from other plant families, such as amaranth, buckwheat and quinoa, are pseudocereals. Most cereals are annuals, producing one crop from each planting, though rice is sometimes grown as a perennial. Winter varieties are hardy enough to be planted in the autumn, becoming dormant in the winter, and harvested in spring or early summer; spring varieties are planted in spring and harvested in late summer. The term cereal is derived from the name of the Roman goddess of grain crops and fertility, Ceres.

Cereals were domesticated in the Neolithic around 8,000 years ago. Wheat and barley were domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. Rice and some millets were domesticated in East Asia, while sorghum and other millets were domesticated in West Africa. Maize was domesticated by Indigenous peoples of the Americas in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago. In the 20th century, cereal productivity was greatly increased by the Green Revolution. This increase in production has accompanied a growing international trade, with some countries producing large portions of the cereal supply for other countries.

A pseudocereal or pseudograin is one of any non-grasses that are used in much the same way as cereals (true cereals are grasses). Pseudocereals can be further distinguished from other non-cereal staple crops (such as potatoes) by their being processed like a cereal: their seed can be ground into flour and otherwise used as a cereal. Prominent examples of pseudocereals include amaranth (love-lies-bleeding, red amaranth, Prince-of-Wales-feather), quinoa, and buckwheat. The pseudocereals have a good nutritional profile, with high levels of essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, minerals, and some vitamins. The starch in pseudocereals has small granules and low amylose content (except for buckwheat), which gives it similar properties to waxy-type cereal starches. The functional properties of pseudocereals, such as high viscosity, water-binding capacity, swelling capability, and freeze-thaw stability, are determined by their starch properties and seed morphology. Pseudocereals are gluten-free, and they are used to make 100% gluten-free products, which has increased their popularity.

Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists, which in turn provide herbivore protection. Common nectar-consuming pollinators include mosquitoes, hoverflies, wasps, bees, butterflies and moths, hummingbirds, honeyeaters and bats. Nectar is an economically important substance as it is the sugar source for honey.

Nectar is also useful in agriculture and horticulture because the adult stages of some predatory insects feed on nectar. For example, a number of predacious or parasitoid wasps (e.g., the social wasp species Apoica flavissima) rely on nectar as a primary food source. In turn, these wasps then hunt agricultural pest insects as food for their young.

Polygonum is a genus of about 130 species of flowering plants in the buckwheat and knotweed family Polygonaceae. Common names include knotweed and knotgrass (though the common names may refer more broadly to plants from Polygonaceae). In the Middle English glossary of herbs Alphita (c. 1400–1425), it was known as ars-smerte. There have been various opinions about how broadly the genus should be defined. For example, buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) has sometimes been included in the genus as Polygonum fagopyrum. Former genera such as Polygonella have been subsumed into Polygonum; other genera have been split off.

The genus primarily grows in northern temperate regions. The species are very diverse, ranging from prostrate herbaceous annual plants to erect herbaceous perennial plants.

The docks and sorrels, genus Rumex, are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae.Members of this genus are very common perennial herbs with a native almost worldwide distribution, and introduced species growing in the few places where the genus is not native.

Some are nuisance weeds (and are sometimes called dockweed or dock weed), but some are grown for their edible leaves. Rumex species are used as food plants by the larvae of a number of Lepidoptera species, and are the only host plants of Lycaena dispar and Lycaena rubidus.

Sprouting is the natural process by which seeds or spores germinate and put out shoots, and already established plants produce new leaves or buds, or other structures experience further growth.

In the field of nutrition, the term signifies the practice of germinating seeds (for example, mung beans or sunflower seeds) to be eaten raw or cooked, which is considered more nutritious.

Fagopyrum tataricum, also known as Tartary buckwheat, green buckwheat, ku qiao, Tatar buckwheat, or bitter buckwheat, is a domesticated food plant in the genus Fagopyrum in the family Polygonaceae. With another species in the same genus, common buckwheat, it is often counted as a cereal, but the buckwheats are not closely related to true cereals.

Tartary buckwheat is more bitter and contains more rutin than common buckwheat. It also contains other bioactive components such as flavonoids, phenolic acids, 2-hydroxybenzylamine and quercitrin.

Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding. It can also refer to grain that has been coarsely ground at a gristmill. The term derives from the Old English verb grindan, meaning "to grind."

Grist can be ground into meal or flour, depending on the fineness of the grind. Maize prepared as grist is called grits when coarsely ground, and cornmeal when ground more finely. Other grains such as wheat, oats, barley, and buckwheat are similarly ground and sifted into flour or farina.

Sitophilus is a genus of weevils in the tribe Litosomini. Some species are familiar as pests of stored grain, nut, or seed. Notable pest species include the rice weevil (S. oryzae), wheat weevil (S. granarius), and maize weevil (S. zeamais).

Among the Stiophilus are species which destroy stored wheat, rice, sorghum, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, peas, cottonseed, processed cereal products such as pasta, cassava, and fruits such as apples.

Polenta (/pəˈlɛntə, poʊˈ-/, Italian: [poˈlɛnta]) is an Italian dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. It may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried or grilled. While it is commonly used in savory dishes, it can also be found in sweet preparations such as cakes, cookies, and puddings.

The variety of cereal used is usually yellow maize, but often buckwheat, white maize or mixtures thereof may be used. Coarse grinds make a firm, coarse polenta; finer grinds make a soft, creamy polenta. Polenta is a staple of both northern and, to a lesser extent, central Italian, Swiss Italian, southern French, Croatian, Slovenian, Romanian and, due to Italian migrants, Brazilian, Uruguayan and Argentinian cuisines. It is often mistaken for the Slovene-Croatian food named žganci. Its consumption was traditionally associated with lower classes, as in times past cornmeal mush was an essential food in their everyday nutrition.

Soba (そば or 蕎麦, "buckwheat") are Japanese noodles made from buckwheat flour, with varying amounts of wheat flour mixed in. It has an ashen brown color, and a slightly grainy texture. The noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or hot in a noodle soup. They are used in a wide variety of dishes.

In Japan, soba noodles can be found at fast food venues like standing-up-eating (立ち食いそば, tachigui-soba) to expensive specialty restaurants. Dried soba noodles are sold in stores, along with men-tsuyu, or instant noodle broth, to make home preparation easy.

Caryophyllales (/ˌkæri.oʊfɪˈleɪliːz/ KARR-ee-oh-fih-LAY-leez) is a diverse and heterogeneous order of flowering plants with well-known members including cacti, carnations, beets, quinoa, spinach, amaranths, pigfaces and ice plants, oraches and saltbushes, goosefoots, sundews, Venus flytrap, tropical pitcher plants, Malabar spinach, bougainvilleas, four o'clock flowers, buckwheat, knotweeds, rhubarb, sorrels, purslanes, jojoba, and tamarisks. Many members are succulent, having fleshy stems or leaves.

The betalain pigments are unique in plants of this order and occur in all its core families with the exception of Caryophyllaceae and Molluginaceae. Noncore families, such as Nepenthaceae, instead produce anthocyanins. In its modern definition, the order encompasses a whole new group of families (formerly included in the order Polygonales) that never synthesize betalains, among which several families are carnivorous (like Nepenthaceae and Droseraceae).

A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat (UK: corn), rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize (US: corn). Edible grains from other plant families, such as amaranth, buckwheat and quinoa, are pseudocereals. Most cereals are annuals, producing one crop from each planting, though rice is sometimes grown as a perennial. Winter varieties are hardy enough to be planted in the autumn, becoming dormant in the winter, and harvested in spring or early summer; spring varieties are planted in spring and harvested in late summer. The term cereal is derived from the name of the Roman goddess of grain crops and fertility, Ceres.

Cereals were domesticated in the Neolithic around 8,000 years ago. Wheat and barley were domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. Rice and some millets were domesticated in East Asia, while sorghum and other millets were domesticated in West Africa. Maize was domesticated by Indigenous peoples of the Americas in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago. In the 20th century, cereal productivity was greatly increased by the Green Revolution. This increase in production has accompanied a growing international trade, with some countries producing large portions of the cereal supply for other countries.