Cereals, grains or cereal grains, are grasses (members of the monocot families Poaceae or

Gramineae)[1] cultivated for the edible components of their fruit seeds (botanically, a type of
fruit called a caryopsis) - the endocarp, germ and bran. Cereal grains are grown in greater
quantities and provide more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop; they are
therefore staple crops. In their natural form (as in whole grain), they are a rich source of
vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats and oils, and protein. However, when refined by the
removal of the bran and germ, the remaining endocarp is mostly carbohydrate and lacks the
majority of the other nutrients. In some developing nations, grain in the form of rice, wheat,
or maize (in American terminology, corn) constitutes a majority of daily sustenance. In
developed nations, cereal consumption is more moderate and varied but still substantial.
The word cereal derives from Ceres, the name of the Roman goddess of harvest and
agriculture.
Rice is the seed of a monocot plant Oryza sativa. As a cereal grain, it is the most
important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially
in East, South, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the West
Indies. It is the grain with the second highest worldwide production, after maize
("corn").[1Rice is normally grown as an annual plant, although in tropical areas it
can survive as a perennial and can produce a ratoon crop for up to 20 years.[4]
The rice plant can grow to 1–1.8 m tall, occasionally more depending on the
variety and soil fertility. The grass has long, slender leaves 50–100 cm long and
2–2.5 cm broad. The small wind-pollinated flowers are produced in a branched
arching to pendulous inflorescence 30–50 cm long. The edible seed is a grain
(caryopsis) 5–12 mm long and 2–3 mm thick.
Wheat (Triticum spp.)[1] is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Fertile Crescent region of
the Near East. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third
most-produced cereal after maize (784 million tons) and rice (651 million tons).[2] Wheat
grain is a staple food used to make flour for leavened, flat and steamed breads, biscuits,
cookies, cakes, breakfast cereal, pasta, noodles, couscous [3] and for fermentation to make
beer,[4] alcohol, vodka,[5] or biofuel.[6] Wheat is planted to a limited extent as a forage crop for
livestock, and the straw can be used as fodder for livestock or as a construction material for
roofing thatch.[7][8]

Although wheat supplies much of the world's dietary protein and food supply, as many as one
in every 100 to 200 people has Celiac disease, a condition which results from an immune
system response to a protein found in wheat: gluten (based on figures for the United States).
Maize (Zea mays L. ssp. mays, pronounced /ˈmeɪz/; also known in most English-
speaking countries as corn), is a grass domesticated by indigenous peoples in
Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. Native Americans cultivated it in numerous
varieties throughout the Americas. The Mississippian culture, whose major city
and regional chiefdom of Cahokia in present-day Illinois achieved its peak about
1250 CE, had population density and a great regional trade network based on
surplus maize crops. As another example, the women of the Pawnee nation on
the Great Plains were known to cultivate ten pure varieties of corn by the late
18th century. After European contact with the Americas in the late 15th and
early 16th centuries, explorers and traders carried maize back to Europe and
introduced it to other countries through trade. Its use spread to the rest of the
world.

Maize stems superficially resemble bamboo canes and the internodes can reach
20–30 centimetres (8–12 in). Maize has a distinct growth form; the lower leaves
being like broad flags, 50–100 centimetres long and 5–10 centimetres wide (2–
4 ft by 2–4 in); the stems are erect, conventionally 2–3 metres (7–10 ft) in height,
with many nodes, casting off flag-leaves at every node. Under these leaves and
close to the stem grow the ears. They grow about 3 millimetres a day.
The common oat (Avena sativa) is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed,
which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other grains).
While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one
of the most common uses is as livestock feed. Oats make up a large part of the
diet of horses and are regularly fed to cattle as well. Oats are also used in some
brands of dog and chicken feed.