Rye

Secale cereale

grain · prebiotic

Grains of a hardy cereal that withstands cold and poor soils, the cereal of the dark breads of northern and eastern Europe. It provides lignans, arabinoxylans, fibre and manganese.

Origin

Asia Minor

Season (United States)

all year round · grows in your region

Preparation

Mostly eaten as bread — black bread, pumpernickel, rye bread — or as flakes; as whole grains, it soaks overnight then cooks for about an hour. Soaking, sprouting or sourdough bring its phytates down — and release the zinc and iron they were holding.

Molecules

Resistant starch RS1 · Arabinoxylans · Lignans · Phenolic acids · Vitamin B1 (thiamine) · Selenium · Manganese · Insoluble fibersIn small amounts, not counted Cereal beta-glucans · Fructans (inulin, FOS) · Betaine · InositolWhat slows things down Phytates

Did you know?

It reached Europe as a stowaway: a weed mixed in with wheat, so alike that it was sown along with it, before being grown in its own right.