Scientific Names
- Hordeum vulgare L.
- Graminaceae
Pearl barley (hulled grain)
Scotch barley
Ta-mai
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Grain, germinate seeds (barley sprouts)
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Barley is an annual plant; its stout, simple stem (culm) is hollow and jointed and grows from 1 1/2 to 3 feet high. The narrow, tapering leaves ascend the stem in 2 ranks, the third leaf over the first; and their bases form loose sheaths around the stem. The flowers grow in bristly-bearded terminal spikes, producing eventually the elliptic, furrowed barley grains. The leaves of barley are broader than many other grasses, but more characteristic still is the "bearded" look of the spikes, this being due to the long awns that grow from them. A field of ripe barley radiates a pale yellow light.
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Widely cultivated as a food grain. The major producing states are North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota and California in the United States. In Canada, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario, and Manitoba.
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Demulcent, digestant, carminative, nutritive
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Amylase, invertase, dextrin, phospholipid, maltose, glucose, Iron, sulfur, phosphorus, magnesium, niacin, protein, vitamin B1
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Used in manufacturing beer, malt beverages.
Barley seeds were found in tombs in Asia Minor dating from about 3500 BC. It is believed that barley had it origin in western Asia and was used for food for animals and man; was the chief grain for bread making in Europe until wheat and rye.
The earliest settlers to North American brought barley to the continent.
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A mucilaginous substance is obtained when hulled barley (pearl barley) is cooked; good nutritional source for throat or stomach problems. The demulcent properties of cooked barley is useful in external treatment of sores, fevers, diarrhea, gout, and tumors. Used as a tonic during convalescence.
Barley water is a skin freshener, cleanses and softens skin. Made by simmering 3 tbsp. barley in 3 cups water for an hour. Strain and cool. Rinse off face after using and refrigerate the barley water. This is best for normal skin. Drinking barley water is also supposed to clear and beautify the skin; sweeten with honey and orange juice.
Barley shoots are used to dry mother's milk, treat food stagnation, weak stomach, weak digestion, loss of appetite, and hepatitis.
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Decoction: was 2 oz. barley with cold water and boil in 1 cup water for a few minutes. Discard the water and boil the barley in 4 pints of water until the total volume is 2 pints. Strain and use as required.
Barley water: wash pearl barley in cold water. Boil 1 part pearl barley in 9 parts water for 20 minutes and strain. A dose is from 1 to 4 oz.
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Iron, sulfur, phosphorus, magnesium, niacin, protein, vitamin B1
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Barley bread can be bought at health food stores and good bakeries. (Although, Culpeper states that barley bread is bad for melancholy people)
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Should be avoided by nursing mothers.
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LiveStrong.com: Natural Methods for Lowering Triglycerides & Cholesterol
LiveStrong.com: What Are the Benefits of Barley Grass Juice?
MayoClinic.com: Cholesterol-lowering supplements
PubMed.gov: Consumption of barley beta-glucan ameliorates fatty liver and insulin resistance in mice fed a high-fat diet.
PubMed.gov: ß-glucan from barley and its lipid-lowering capacity: a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials.
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Culpeper's Complete Herbal & English Physician
, by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814)
The Herb Book
, by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974.
Chinese Medicinal Herbs, compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973.
Indian Herbalogy of North America, by Alma R. Hutchens, Shambala Publications, Inc., Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973
The Magic of Herbs, by David Conway, published by Jonathan Cape, Thirty Bedford Square, London, England. (Out of print)
The Yoga of Herbs, by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988.
Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023, 1984
Planetary Herbology, by Michael Tierra, C.A., N.D., O.M.D., Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. WI 53181., Copyright 1988, published 1992
The Nature Doctor, by Dr. H.C.A. Vogel; Keats Publishing, Inc., 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. Vogel, Teufen (AR) Switzerland 1952, 1991
Old Ways Rediscovered, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, published from 1954, print 1988
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