Oat

Oat

Oats are known as annual grasses, and are used as both for both human and animal nutrition, in addition to other purposes. They are a commonly grown crop in the world today. However, they bring with them a somewhat tempestuous history.
Modern oats probably originated from the Asian wild red oat which grew as a weed in other grain crops. Archaeological studies show that oats have been found dating from about 2,000 BC, but these grains were probably simply weed seeds. It was probably much closer to the birth of Christ before, as the last of the cereals to be cultivated; oats were purposely grown in southeast Europe or Asia Minor.
Before being used as a food, they were used for medicinal purposes. Oats have a couple of traits that caused them to be less favored than other grains - a bland taste and a tendency to spoil. Greeks and Romans considered oats to be diseased wheat, and many cultures believed them to be better suited to animals. Despite these issues, oats became a staple in Germany, Ireland, Scotland, and the Scandivian countries.