Rye and Horned Rye

What is Rye?

Rye ( Secale cereale L., 1753) or Jurmano is a cereal containing gluten belonging to the same family as wheat, that of the Poacee (better known as grasses ).

History

In the food culture of our peninsula, rye was replaced by wheat between 1750 and 1850 AD, while the first consumption linked to this food dates back to the Bronze Age (3500-1200 BC).

Rye has taken over human nutrition thanks to its resistance and, probably, its pest capacity against wheat and barley. It is hypothesized that rye began to integrate autonomously in the cultivation of other cereals and that, thanks to its characteristics of resistance to cold and altitude, it became an essential support component especially for the migrating eastern populations to the north. For the same reason, from the 4th century BC, Celts and Germans cultivated almost exclusively rye, destined for bread making.

In central-southern Europe (France, Austria and northern Italy), rye cultivation resisted and allowed man to resist until the modern era, therefore, until the globalization of wheat consumption; in Italy, rye was (and is, albeit to a lesser extent) cultivated in South Tyrol, Friuli, Lombardy and Piedmont.

Nutritional values

Average nutritional composition of the rye grain per 100g of edible part:
Power	342kcal
Protein	16g
Lipids	2.5g
carbohydrates	68g
Iron	3mg
Football	25mg
Phosphorus	530mg
Thiamine	0.4mg
Riboflavin	0.2mg
Niacin	1, 4mg
The nutritional composition of rye does not differ much from that of whole wheat.

To learn more, read: Rye flour »

Rye Bread and Yogurt - Soft Bread with Poppy Seeds and Sesame Seeds

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Ergot

Nothing to do with rye cereal, is the "rye horned or ergot". This is the infestation of a parasitic fungus called Claviceps purpurea which attacked the cultivation of grasses especially in the Middle Ages. The name derives from the typical shape of the spike contaminated by Claviceps, a pathogenic agent responsible for mass food poisoning; the typical symptoms were those of the Fire of St. Anthony, therefore intense ardor, nervous and vascular complications up to amputation of the limbs and / or death. The ergot toxin has been widely used as a pharmacological principle in obstetric practice, for the treatment of complicated parts. It is discussed extensively in a treatise by dr. Monteverdi, who analyzed the applicability and effects of ergot by comparing and associating it with quinine sulfate; this pharmacological compulsion is a real mixture of exciters that promotes the contraction of the uterine smooth muscle. It appears that the administration of 1-1.5g x 4 doses (at a distance of 30 'from one another) of ergot facilitates the expulsion of the fetus or placenta in cases of need. However, the administration of ergot is not without risk; the side effects bound to it overlap with those of the well-known fungal intoxication. Cardialgia, spasmodic contractions of hands and feet, ardor, canine hunger, stiffness, dizziness, false vision, blindness and death have been documented. To date, ergot is considered to be a toxic product having a venomous narcotic-acre property.

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Bibliography:

• Cereals. Properties, uses and virtues - Walter Pedrotti - pag 99: 102
• University Medical Annals - Library of the University of Michigan - pag.398: 406.