Oats
The oat (Avena sativa), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal
grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural,
unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human consumption
as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed. Oats
are a nutrient-rich food associated with lower blood cholesterol when consumed regularly.[1]
The wild ancestor of Avena sativa and the closely related minor crop, A. byzantina,
is the hex aploid wild oat A. sterilis. Genetic evidence shows the ancestral forms
of A. sterilis grew in th e Fertile Crescent of the Near East.