What is barley? Barley pictures

1. What is barley?

Barley is an annual herb of the genus Hordeum in the Poaceae family. It grows in a wide range of environments and is cultivated throughout my country. Its culm is thick, smooth and hairless, and stands upright, up to one hundred centimeters tall. It has lanceolate leaf ears on both sides. The leaf blades are nine to twenty centimeters long, about seven to twenty millimeters wide, and flat. Its caryopsis is oval and wrapped in a lemma. It is one of the oldest cultivated crops in the world and has a wide range of uses. It can not only be eaten, but also used as feed, for winemaking and for medicinal purposes.

2. The efficacy and uses of barley

Barley tastes sweet and is cool in nature. It has the effects of strengthening the spleen and stomach, invigorating qi and relieving cough. It can be used to treat symptoms such as weak spleen and stomach, indigestion, and difficulty urinating.

Inhibit cholesterol: It is rich in tocotrienol, which can inhibit cholesterol in the body after being absorbed by the human body. Therefore, if obese people drink barley porridge regularly, it will have a good effect in inhibiting cholesterol.

Laxative and digestion-promoting: It also contains a large amount of dietary fiber, which can stimulate the gastrointestinal motility of the human body, speed up the digestion process of food accumulated in the intestines, and play a laxative and digestion-promoting role.

Vitamin Supplement: Barley germ is rich in vitamin B1 and digestive enzymes, which can improve the condition of indigestion or vitamin B1 deficiency in infants, the elderly and those with poor digestive function.

Inhibit milk secretion: Barley malt contains ergotamine compounds, which can inhibit the secretion of female prolactin after being absorbed by the human body, thereby reducing milk secretion.