Cereals are the most important category of plants grown for human consumption. 
They are annual plants (they are sown and harvested within a year). 
Cereals are used to produce a staple food, bread. 
They are divided into three main categories:

· cereals, which include wheat, corn, rice, buckwheat and many other similar species.
· legumes, which include various types of beans, soybeans, lentils, chickpeas etc.
· oily cereals, like soybeans (again), sunflower seeds and many more.

The main cereal grains used for making bread are wheat, barley, corn, oats and rye.

Wheat

Wheat is a plant that is grown around the world.
Wheat grains are a staple food, used for making flour, feed and as raw material in the production of alcoholic beverages and biofuels.
Wheat consists of:

- the endosperm (83%), which gives us flour
- the bran (14.4%), which consists of the pericarp, the episperm and the aleurone layer, and
- the germ (2.5%), from which the new plant will sprout

Barley

Barley has been grown and used since ancient times in a wide variety of climates.
Today, it is used primarily for making bread, beer and feed.
Barley flour is usually mixed with wheat or rye flour to lend a unique, slightly bitter taste.

Corn

Corn originated in the Americas, where it was already cultivated 5,500 years ago.
It was not popular with bakers, as it has a low gluten content and bread produced from corn does not rise and is quite heavy.
It is usually mixed with wheat flour.

Oats

Oats, known since antiquity in the Greek region, is considered excellent feed, but is also used in traditional baking.
Its limited use is due to the fact that it does not contain protein, and should be mixed with wheat flour, in which case the resulting bread is excellent.
Oats absorb more liquid and lend bread a moist texture.

Rye

Rye looks a lot like wheat, but it is more resistant to poor soils and drought.
Its flour is a little darker than wheat flour, with a slight grey hue and it is the second most popular for making bread.
Small quantities of rye in bread improve the texture and flavour of the crumb, give colour to the crust and make the dough silky and more pliable. 

Other cereals

There are various other cereals that are milled and consumed in a limited scale but are quite popular, including  Emmer wheat, dinkel wheat and kamut.