Oat grains are sown in the winter and ripened in the fields by the summer sun. The oats are then harvested when fully ripe in the autumn. In the corn belt area, oats are chiefly used as a additional fodder.
Food uses for oats include as oat bran, oat meal, oat flour and oat flakes, which are mainly consumed as breakfast cereals. In United Kingdom, oats also used to make bread and sometimes for malting as well. Their main purpose was to make oatmeal concoctions, such as pottage, hasty pudding, gruel, washbrew, and gertbrew, which provided starch in the diet in more varied forms than oat bread and oat cake.
Other food products processed from oats are infant foods, muesli, granola bars, breads and biscuits, or cookies. In brewing, oats are mainly used as an ingredient to improve the pleasant flavour properties of the final products.
The food industry in North America uses approximately 1.7 million tons of oats while a major share goes to livestock feed industries. Oats still remain an important grain crop for people in marginal ecologies throughout the developing world, and in developed economies for specialized uses. Oat grains are a good source of protein, fibre, and minerals. Oat grains are a good source of protein, fibre, and minerals.
Uses of oats
