Oats
The common oat (Avena sativa)
n. A species of cereal grain grown for its seed, usually consumed as oatmeal and rolled oats.
Historical attitudes towards oats vary. In England, oats were primrily cultivated as feed for hoeses and other livestock. In Scotland, on the other hand, oats were, and still are held in high esteem and a mainstay of the national diet.
The English lexicographer Samuel Johnson, wrote in A Dictionary of the English Language that "the oat was a grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people," to which the Scottish response is "England is known for the quality of its horses, and Scotland for its men."
Origins
The wild ancestor of Avena sativa is the wild oat A. sterilis. Genetic evidence shows the ancestral forms of A. sterilis grew in the Fertile Crescent of the Near East. Domesticated oats appeared relatively late in Bronze Age Europe.
Cultivation
Oats are grown throughout the temperate zones. They have a lower summer heat requirement and greater tolerance of rain than wheat, rye or barley, so are particularly important in areas with cool, wet summers, such as Northwest Europe and even Iceland.
Oats are an annual plant, and can be planted either in autumn (for late summer harvest) or in the spring (for early autumn harvest).
Processing
Cleaning and sizing
Upon delivery to the milling plant, chaff, rocks, other grains, and other foreign material are removed from the oats.
Dehulling
Separation of the outer hull from the inner oat groat is effected by means of centripetal acceleration. Oats are fed by gravity onto the center of a horizontally spinning stone, which accelerates them towards the outer ring. Groats and hulls are separated on impact with this ring.
The lighter oat hulls are then aspirated away, while the denser oat groats are taken to the next step of processing. Oat hulls can be used as feed, processed further into insoluble oat fiber, or used as a biomass fuel.Kilning
The unsized oat groats will then pass through a heat and moisture treatment to balance moisture, but mainly to stabilize them. Oat groats are high in fat (lipids), and once removed from their protective hulls and exposed to air, enzymatic (lipase) activity begins to break down the fat into free fatty acids, ultimately causing an off flavor or rancidity.
Oats will begin to show signs of enzymatic rancidity within four days of being dehulled if not stabilized. This process is primarily done in food grade plants, not in feed grade plants. Groats are not considered raw if they have gone through this process; the heat has disrupted the germ, and they will not sprout.
Sizing of groats
Many whole oat groats are broken during the dehulling process, leaving the following types of groats to be sized and separated for further processing: whole oat groats, coarse steel cut groats, steel cut groats and fine steel cut groats.
Groats are sized and separated using screens, shakers and indent screens. After the whole oat groats are separated, the remaining broken groats get sized again into the 3 groups (coarse, regular, fine), and then stored.
The term steel cut is referred to all sized or cut groats. When there are not enough broken to size for further processing, then whole oat groats get sent to a cutting unit with steel blades that will evenly cut the groats into the three sizes as discussed earlier.
Final processing
Three methods are used to make a finished product:
Flaking
This process uses two large smooth or corrugated rolls spinning at the same speed in opposite directions at a controlled distance. Oat flakes, also known as rolled oats, have many different sizes, thicknesses and other characteristics depending on the size of oat groats passed between the rolls. Typically, the three sizes of steel cut oats are used to make instant, baby and quick rolled oats, whereas whole oat groats are used to make regular, medium and thick rolled oats. Oat flakes range from a thickness of 0.36 mm to 1.00 mm.
Oat bran milling
This process takes the oat groats through several roll stands to flatten and separate the bran from the flour (endosperm). The two separate products (flour and bran) get sifted through a gyrating sifter screen to further separate them. The final products are oat bran and debranned oat flour.
Whole flour milling
This process takes oat groats straight to a grinding unit (stone or hammer mill) and then over sifter screens to separate the coarse flour and final whole oat flour. The coarser flour gets sent back to the grinding unit until it is ground fine enough to be whole oat flour. This method is used often in India and other countries.
Uses of Oats
Oats are commonly used as feed for horses - as crimped or rolled oats or as part of a blended food pellet. The oat hull must be crushed ("rolled" or "crimped") for the horse to digest the grain. Cattle are also fed oats, either whole, or ground into a coarse flour using a roller mill, burr mill, or hammer mill.
Because of its soft, relatively dust-free, and absorbent nature, oat straw is prized by cattle and horse producers as bedding.
Tied in a muslin bag, oat straw was used to soften bath water.
Cats readily eat tender young oat sprouts, so oat seeds are commonly marketed as 'cat grass' to cat fanciers.
Oats have numerous uses in food; most commonly, they are rolled or crushed into oatmeal, or ground into fine oat flour. Oatmeal is chiefly eaten as porridge, but may also be used in a variety of baked goods, such as oatcakes, oatmeal cookies, and oat bread. Oats are also an ingredient in many cold cereals, in particular muesli and granola. Oats may also be consumed raw, and cookies with raw oats are popular.
Oats are also occasionally used in drinks. In Britain, they are used for brewing beer, where oatmeal stout is brewed using a percentage of oats for the wort. The more rarely used oat malt is produced by the Thomas Fawcett & Sons Maltings, and was used in the Maclay Oat Malt Stout before Maclays Brewery ceased independent brewing operations.
A cold, sweet drink made of ground oats and milk is a popular refreshment throughout Latin America. Oatmeal caudle, made of ale and oatmeal with spices, was a traditional British drink and a favorite of Oliver Cromwell.
In Scotland, a dish called sowans was made by soaking the husks from oats for a week so that the fine, floury part of the meal remained as sediment to be strained off, boiled and eaten. Oats are also widely used there as a thickener in soups, as barley or rice might be used in other countries.
Oat grass was used traditionally for medicinal purposes, including to help balance the menstrual cycle, treat dysmenorrhea, and for osteoperosis and urinary tract infections.
Oat extract can be used to soothe skin conditions, as in skin lotions. It is the principal ingredient for the Aveeno™ line of products.
The Many Health Benefits of Oats
Lower Cholesterol Levels
Oats, oat bran, and oatmeal contain a specific type of fiber known as beta-glucan. Since 1963, study after study has proven the beneficial effects of this special fiber on cholesterol levels. Studies show that in individuals with high cholesterol (above 220 mg/dl), consuming just 3 grams of soluble oat fiber per day (an amount found in one bowl of oatmeal) typically lowers total cholesterol by 8-23%. This is highly significant since each 1% drop in serum cholesterol translates to a 2% decrease in the risk of developing heart disease.
A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine confirms that eating high fiber foods, such as oats, helps prevent heart disease. People eating the most fiber, 21 grams per day, had 12% less coronary heart disease (CHD) and 11% less cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to those eating the least, 5 grams daily. Those eating the most water-soluble dietary fiber fared even better with a 15% reduction in risk of CHD and a 10% risk reduction in CVD.
Unique Oat Antioxidants Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Antioxidant compounds unique to oats, called avenanthramides, help prevent free radicals from damaging LDL cholesterol, thus reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, suggests a study conducted at Tufts University and published in The Journal of Nutrition.
In this study, laboratory animals were fed saline containing 0.25 grams of phenol-rich oat bran, after which blood samples were taken. After 40 minutes, blood concentrations of avenanthramides had peaked, showing these compounds were bioavailable.
Next, the researchers tested the antioxidant ability of avenanthramides to protect LDL cholesterol against oxidation (free radical damage) induced by copper. Not only did the avenanthramides increase the amount of time before LDL became oxidized, but when vitamin C was added, the oat phenols interacted synergistically with the vitamin, extending the time during which LDL was protected from 137 to 216 minutes.
In another study also conducted at Tufts and published in Atherosclerosis, researchers exposed human arterial wall cells to purified avenenthramides from oats for 24 hours, and found that these oat phenols significantly suppressed the production of several types of molecules involved in the attachment of monocytes (immune cells in the bloodstream) to the arterial wall-the first step in the development of atherosclerosis.
Oat avenanthamides suppressed production of ICAM-1 (intracellular adhesion molecule-1) and VCAM-1 (vascular adhesion molecule-1), E-selectin, and the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines KL-6, chemokines IL-8 and protein MCP-1 (monocyte chemoattractant protein).
Enhance Immune Response to Infection
In laboratory studies reported in Surgery, beta-glucan significantly enhanced the human immune system's response to bacterial infection. Beta-glucan not only helps neutrophils (the most abundant type of non-specific immune cell) navigate to the site of an infection more quickly, it also enhances their ability to eliminate the bacteria they find there.
According to study leader Jonathan Reichner of the Department of Surgery at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University, priming neutrophils with beta-glucan helps these immune defenders quickly locate the bacterial mother lode within infected tissue. And this more rapid response to infection results in faster microbial clearance and healing. Non-specific immune defenses are the body's first strike forces against invading pathogens.
Stabilize Blood Sugar
Studies also show that beta-glucan has beneficial effects in diabetes as well. Type 2 diabetes patients given foods high in this type of oat fiber or given oatmeal or oat bran rich foods experienced much lower rises in blood sugar compared to those who were given white rice or bread. Starting out your day with a blood sugar stabilizing food such as oats may make it easier to keep blood sugar levels under control the rest of the day, especially when the rest of your day is also supported with nourishing fiber-rich foods.
Oats and Other Whole Grains Substantially Lower Type 2 Diabetes Risk
Oats and other whole grains are a rich source of magnesium, a mineral that acts as a co-factor for more than 300 enzymes, including enzymes involved in the body's use of glucose and insulin secretion.
The FDA permits foods that contain at least 51% whole grains by weight (and are also low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol) to display a health claim stating consumption is linked to lower risk of heart disease and certain cancers. Now, research suggests regular consumption of whole grains also reduces risk of type 2 diabetes. (van Dam RM, Hu FB, Diabetes Care).
In this 8-year trial, involving 41,186 particpants of the Black Women's Health Study, research data confirmed inverse associations between magnesium, calcium and major food sources in relation to type 2 diabetes that had already been reported in predominantly white populations.
Risk of type 2 diabetes was 31% lower in black women who frequently ate whole grains compared to those eating the least of these magnesium-rich foods. When the women's dietary intake of magnesium intake was considered by itself, a beneficial, but lesser-19%-reduction in risk of type 2 diabetes was found, indicating that whole grains offer special benefits in promoting healthy blood sugar control. Daily consumption of low-fat dairy foods was also helpful, lowering risk of type 2 diabetes by 13%. Enjoy a hearty breakfast and get the benefits of both oats and dairy by serving hot oatmeal, spiced with cinnamon, and topped with handful of walnuts and low-fat milk.
Antioxidant Benefits
In addition to its fiber benefits, oats are also a very good source of selenium. A necessary cofactor of the important antioxidant, glutathione peroxidase, selenium works with vitamin E in numerous vital antioxidant systems throughout the body. These powerful antioxidant actions make selenium helpful in decreasing asthma symptoms and in the prevention of heart disease. In addition, selenium is involved in DNA repair and is associated with a reduced risk for cancer, especially colon cancer.
Fiber from Whole Grains and Fruit Protective against Breast Cancer
When researchers looked at how much fiber 35,972 participants in the UK Women's Cohort Study ate, they found a diet rich in fiber from whole grains, such as oats, and fruit offered significant protection against breast cancer for pre-menopausal women. (Cade JE, Burley VJ, et al., International Journal of Epidemiology).
Pre-menopausal women eating the most fiber (>30 grams daily) more than halved their risk of developing breast cancer, enjoying a 52% lower risk of breast cancer compared to women whose diets supplied the least fiber (<20 grams/day).
Fiber supplied by whole grains offered the most protection. Pre-menopausal women eating the most whole grain fiber (at least 13 g/day) had a 41% reduced risk of breast cancer, compared to those with the lowest whole grain fiber intake (4 g or less per day).
NUTRITION CHART HERE
Data source : USDA National Nutrient Database
TEMPORARY COLLECTION and HOLDING AREA for IMAGES
O.S.M. Oatmeal
When The Bunnery became the breakfast destination of Jackson Hole, it seemed unthinkable for it not to have its own hot cereal. Our winning O.S.M. formula was a natural idea for a super nutritious version of oatmeal enhanced by the toasty goodness of oat bran, cracked wheat, wheat bran, millet and sunflower seeds. It became so popular on frosty Wyoming mornings that we packaged it to take home or on the trail.
Millet is one of the oldest known foods, the staple grain of China before rice became dominant, as early as 2700 B.C. Known in the U.S. only since 1875, it is nonetheless the world's sixth most important grain and significant in of one third of its population's diet. Suited to hot, arid climates and cool ones with short growing seasons, it can be cultivated to maturity, even in poor, dry soils, in as little as 65 days.
Millet is an exceptionally healthy grain, with a protein content of twelve percent, fiber content of nine percent and a cornucopia of beneficial nutrients. It is high in niacin, thiamin, and riboflavin (the B-complex vitamins), vitamin E, lecithin, folate and methionine, an essential amino acid. Millet is rich in iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium and various antioxidative phytochemicals.
Much like oats, millet is an excellent source of fiber beneficial to healthy digestion. Gluten-free, it is among the most easily assimilated and least allergenic of grains. Its high magnesium content aids in reduction of high blood pressure, lowering the risk of heart attack and stroke, and with niacin aids in reducing cholesterol. It is a significant factor in regulation of the body's use of glucose and insulin, inhibiting risk of type 2 diabetes. Magnesium also mitigates symptoms of asthma and to reduces the incidence of migraine headaches.
Millet's phosphorus content is of particular importance. Phosphorus is vital to the formation of bone matrix, and is an essential component of other compounds formed in the body. It is part of the molecule adenosine triphosphate, which allows energy to flow through the body, and plays an essential role in the formation of nucleic acids on which the genetic code is built.. Phosphorus also contributes to the structure of cell and nervous system structures. Millet's two primary phytochemicals, phytic acid and phytate, are linked to lowered cholesterol and lessened risk of cancer. A cup of cooked millet provides nearly a fifth of the daily values for magnesium and phosphorus, and a quarter of that for manganese.
Our O.S.M. Oatmeal can be prepared with hot water or milk, and is a warming, healthy, delicious breakfast improved only by the addition of your favorite fruit and a dash of honey.
Bunnery Natural Foods for Healthy Lifestyles
Four decades ago, in a log cabin near Yellowstone, The Bunnery started baking natural foods to sustain the outdoorsman drawn to the thrills and challenges of life in the West.
Our home of Jackson, Wyoming, a paradise for skiers, bikers, hikers and fly fishers, is a place that demands you be at your physical best.
Whether you are climbing a mountain, battling white water on the Snake River, or just braving an avalanche of e-mail, our delicious cereals, rich in fiber, iron and antioxidants, give you the strength and satisfaction you need to power through the challenges of your day.
Our team hopes you enjoy the Best from the West -- locally produced natural foods from Jackson Hole.
