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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]

Avena sativa L.jpg
Oat plants with inflorescences
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Avena
Species: A. sativa
Binomial name
Avena sativa
L. (1753)

Avenins present in oats (proteins similar to gliadin from wheat) can trigger celiac disease in a small proportion of people.[2][3] Also, oat products are frequently contaminated by other gluten-containing grains, mainly wheat and barley.[3][4][5]



The wild ancestor of Avena sativa and the closely related minor crop, A. byzantina, is the hexaploid wild oat A. sterilis. Genetic evidence shows the ancestral forms of A. sterilis grew in the Fertile Crescent of the Near East. Domesticated oats appear relatively late, and far from the Near East, in Bronze Age Europe. Oats, like rye, are usually considered a secondary crop, i.e., derived from a weed of the primary cereal domesticates wheat and barley. As these cereals spread westwards into cooler, wetter areas, this may have favored the oat weed component, and have led to its domestication.[6]


Oats production - 2014
Millions of tonnes
  United States
United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization, Statistics Division[7]


Worldwide oat production


In 2014, global production of oats was 22.7 million tonnes, led by Russia with 5.3 million tonnes or 23% of the world total (table). Other major producers were Canada, Poland, and Australia.[7]


Closeup of oat florets (small flowers)


Historical attitudes towards oats have varied. Oat bread was first manufactured in Britain, where the first oat bread factory was established in 1899. In Scotland, they were, and still are, held in high esteem, as a mainstay of the national diet.

In Scotland, a dish was made by soaking the husks from oats for a week, so the fine, floury part of the meal remained as sediment to be strained off, boiled and eaten.[8] Oats are also widely used there as a thickener in soups, as barley or rice might be used in other countries.



Oat straw is prized by cattle and horse producers as bedding, due to its soft, relatively dust-free, and absorbent nature. The straw can also be used for making corn dollies. Tied in a muslin bag, oat straw was used to soften bath water.


Oat extracts can also be used to soothe skin conditions, and are popular for their emollient properties in cosmetics.[13]

Oat grass has been used traditionally for medicinal purposes, including to help balance the menstrual cycle, treat dysmenorrhoea and for osteoporosis and urinary tract infections.[14]

Steamed oat noodles and rolls made from youmian.

In China, particularly in western Inner Mongolia and Shanxi province, oat (Avena nuda) flour called "youmian" is processed into noodles or thin-walled rolls, and is consumed as staple food.[citation needed]


Nutrient profileEdit

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 1,628 kJ (389 kcal)
66.3 g
Dietary fiber 11.6 g
6.9 g
16.9 g
Thiamine (B1)
0.763 mg
Riboflavin (B2)
0.139 mg
Niacin (B3)
0.961 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)
1.349 mg
Vitamin B6
0.12 mg
Folate (B9)
56 μg
54 mg
5 mg
177 mg
4.9 mg
523 mg
429 mg
2 mg
4 mg
Other constituents
β-glucan (soluble fibre)  4 g

Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.

Oats are generally considered healthy due to their rich content of several essential nutrients (table). In a 100 gram serving, oats provide 389 calories and are an excellent source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of protein (34% DV), dietary fiber (44% DV), several B vitamins and numerous dietary minerals, especially manganese (233% DV) (table). Oats are 66% carbohydrates, including 11% dietary fiber and 4% beta-glucans, 7% fat and 17% protein (table).

The established property of their cholesterol-lowering effects[1] has led to acceptance of oats as a health food.[15]

Oat grains in their husks
A sample of oat bran

Soluble fiberEdit

Oat bran is the outer casing of the oat. Its daily consumption over weeks lowers LDL ("bad") and total cholesterol, possibly reducing the risk of heart disease.[1][16]

One type of soluble fiber, beta-glucans, has been proven to lower cholesterol.[1]

After reports of research finding that dietary oats can help lower cholesterol, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule[17] that allows food companies to make health claims on food labels of foods that contain soluble fiber from whole oats (oat bran, oat flour and rolled oats), noting that 3.0 grams of soluble fiber daily from these foods may reduce the risk of heart disease. To qualify for the health claim, the food that contains the oats must provide at least 0.75 grams of soluble fiber per serving.[17]

Beta-D-glucans, usually referred to as beta-glucans, comprise a class of indigestible polysaccharides widely found in nature in sources such as grains, barley, yeast, bacteria, algae and mushrooms. In oats, barley and other cereal grains, they are located primarily in the endosperm cell wall. The oat beta-glucan health claim applies to oat bran, rolled oats, whole oat flour and oatrim, a soluble fraction of alpha-amylase hydrolyzed oat bran or whole oat flour.[17]



Oats, after corn (maize), have the highest lipid content of any cereal, i.e. greater than 10% for oats and as high as 17% for some maize cultivars compared to about 2–3% for wheat and most other cereals.[citation needed] The polar lipid content of oats (about 8–17% glycolipid and 10–20% phospholipid or a total of about 33%) is greater than that of other cereals, since much of the lipid fraction is contained within the endosperm.[citation needed]


Oats are the only cereal containing a globulin or legume-like protein, avenalin, as the major (80%) storage protein.[18] Globulins are characterised by solubility in dilute saline as opposed to the more typical cereal proteins, such as gluten and zein, the prolamines (prolamins). The minor protein of oat is a prolamine, avenin.

Oat protein is nearly equivalent in quality to soy protein, which World Health Organization research has shown to be equal to meat, milk and egg protein.[19] The protein content of the hull-less oat kernel (groat) ranges from 12 to 24%, the highest among cereals.

Celiac diseaseEdit

Celiac disease (coeliac disease) is a permanent intolerance to gluten proteins in genetically predisposed people, having a prevalence of about 1% in the developed world.[20] Gluten is present in wheat, barley, rye, oat, and all their species and hybrids[2][20] and contains hundreds of proteins, with high contents of prolamins.[21]

Oat prolamins, named avenins, are similar to gliadins found in wheat, hordeins in barley, and secalins in rye, which are collectively named gluten.[2] Avenins toxicity in celiac people depends on the oat cultivar consumed because of prolamin genes, protein amino acid sequences, and the immunoreactivities of toxic prolamins which vary among oat varieties.[3][4][22] Also, oats products are frequently cross-contaminated with other gluten-containing cereals during grain harvesting, transport, storage or processing.[4][22][23] Pure oats contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten from wheat, barley, rye, or any of their hybrids.[3][4]

Use of pure oats in a gluten-free diet offers improved nutritional value from the rich content of oat protein, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and lipids,[4][24] but remains controversial because a small proportion of people with celiac disease react to pure oats.[3][25] Some cultivars of pure oat could be a safe part of a gluten-free diet, requiring knowledge of the oat variety used in food products for a gluten-free diet.[3][4] Determining whether oat consumption is safe is critical because people with poorly controlled celiac disease may develop multiple severe health complications, including cancers.[26]

Use of pure oat products is an option, with the assessment of a health professional,[3] when the celiac person has been on a gluten-free diet for at least 6 months and all celiac symptoms have disappeared clinically.[3][27] Celiac disease may relapse in few cases with the consumption of pure oats.[28] Screening with serum antibodies for celiac disease is not sensitive enough to detect people who react to pure oats and the absence of digestive symptoms is not an accurate indicator of intestinal recovery because up to 50% of people with active celiac disease have no digestive symptoms.[28][29][30] The lifelong follow-up of celiac people who choose to consume oats may require periodic performance of intestinal biopsies.[26] The long-term effects of pure oats consumption are still unclear[26][27] and further well-designed studies identifying the cultivars used are needed before making final recommendations for a gluten-free diet.[23][24]


Noire d'Epinal, an ancient oat variety.
Oats in Saskatchewan near harvest time

Oats are sown in the spring or early summer in colder areas, as soon as the soil can be worked. An early start is crucial to good fields, as oats go dormant in summer heat. In warmer areas, oats are sown in late summer or early fall. Oats are cold-tolerant and are unaffected by late frosts or snow.

Seeding ratesEdit


Fertilizer requirementsEdit

Oats remove substantial amounts of nitrogen from the soil. They also remove phosphorus in the form of P2O5 at the rate of 0.25 pound per bushel per acre (1 bushel = 38 pounds at 12% moisture).[citation needed] Phosphate is thus applied at a rate of 30 to 40 kg/ha, or 30 to 40 lb/acre. Oats remove potash (K2O) at a rate of 0.19 pound per bushel per acre, which causes it to use 15–30 kg/ha, or 13–27 lb/acre. Usually, 50–100 kg/ha (45–90 lb/ac) of nitrogen in the form of urea or anhydrous ammonia is sufficient, as oats use about one pound per bushel per acre. A sufficient amount of nitrogen is particularly important for plant height and hence, straw quality and yield. When the prior-year crop was a legume, or where ample manure is applied, nitrogen rates can be reduced somewhat.

Weed controlEdit

The vigorous growth of oats tends to choke out most weeds. A few tall broadleaf weeds, such as ragweed, goosegrass, wild mustard, and buttonweed (velvetleaf), occasionally create a problem, as they complicate harvest and reduce yields. These can be controlled with a modest application of a broadleaf herbicide, such as 2,4-D, while the weeds are still small.

Pests and diseasesEdit

Oats are relatively free from diseases and pests with the exception being leaf diseases, such as leaf rust and stem rust. However, Puccinia coronata var. avenae is a pathogen that can greatly reduce crop yields.[31] A few lepidopteran caterpillars feed on the plants—e.g. rustic shoulder-knot and setaceous Hebrew character moths, but these rarely become a major pest. See also List of oat diseases.


Harvesting of oats in Jølster, Norway ca. 1890
(Photo: Axel Lindahl/Norwegian Museum of Cultural History)

Harvest techniques are a matter of available equipment, local tradition, and priorities. Farmers seeking the highest yield from their crops time their harvest so the kernels have reached 35% moisture, or when the greenest kernels are just turning cream-colour. They then harvest by swathing, cutting the plants at about 10 cm (3.9 in) above ground, and putting the swathed plants into windrows with the grain all oriented the same way. They leave the windrows to dry in the sun for several days before combining them using a pickup header. Finally, they bale the straw.

Oats can also be left standing until completely ripe and then combined with a grain head. This causes greater field losses as the grain falls from the heads, and to harvesting losses, as the grain is threshed out by the reel. Without a draper head, there is also more damage to the straw, since it is not properly oriented as it enters the combine's throat. Overall yield loss is 10–15% compared to proper swathing.



After combining, the oats are transported to the farmyard using a grain truck, semi, or road train, where they are augered or conveyed into a bin for storage. Sometimes, when there is not enough bin space, they are augered into portable grain rings, or piled on the ground. Oats can be safely stored at 12-14% moisture; at higher moisture levels, they must be aerated or dried.

Yield and qualityEdit

In the United States, No.1 oats weigh 42 pounds per US bushel (541 kg/m3); No.3 oats must weigh at least 38 lb/US bu (489 kg/m3). If over 36 lb/US bu (463 kg/m3), they are graded as No.4 and oats under 36 lb/US bu (463 kg/m3) are graded as "light weight".

Oat seeds


Note, however, that oats are bought and sold and yields are figured, on the basis of a bushel equal to 32 pounds (14.5 kg or 412 kg/m3) in the United States and a bushel equal to 34 pounds (15.4 kg or 438 kg/m3) in Canada. "Bright oats" were sold on the basis of a bushel equal to 48 pounds (21.8 kg or 618 kg/m3) in the United States.




Porridge oats before cooking

Oats processing is a relatively simple process:

Cleaning and sizingEdit

Upon delivery to the milling plant, chaff, rocks, other grains and other foreign material are removed from the oats.


Centrifugal acceleration is used to separate the outer hull from the inner oat groat. Oats are fed by gravity onto the centre 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 fibre, or used as a biomass fuel.


The unsized oat groats 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-flavour or rancidity. Oats 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 disrupts the germ and they cannot sprout.

Sizing of groatsEdit


Final processingEdit

Three methods are used to make the finished product:


This process uses two large smooth or corrugated rolls spinning at the same speed in opposite directions at a controlled distance. After rolling, the oats are then toasted to make rolled oats. 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 in thickness from 0.36 mm to 1.00 mm.

Oat bran millingEdit


Whole flour millingEdit

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 is 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. In India whole grain flour of oats (jai) used to make Indian bread known as jarobra in Himachal Pradesh.

Preparation at homeEdit

Oat flour can be ground for small scale use by pulsing rolled oats or old-fashioned (not quick) oats in a food processor or spice mill.[33][34]


In Scottish English, oats may be referred to as corn.[35] (In the English language, the major staple grain of the local area is often referred to as "corn".[36] In the US, "corn" originates from "Indian corn" and refers to what others call "maize".)[36]

Oats futuresEdit

Oats futures are traded on the Chicago Board of Trade and have delivery dates in March (H), May (K), July (N), September (U) and December (Z).[37]

See alsoEdit


  3. ^ a b c d e f g h La Vieille, S; Pulido, O. M.; Abbott, M; Koerner, T. B.; Godefroy, S (2016). "Celiac Disease and Gluten-Free Oats: A Canadian Position Based on a Literature Review". Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2016: 1870305. doi:10.1155/2016/1870305. PMC 4904695 . PMID 27446825. 
  6. ^ Zhou, X.; Jellen, E.N.; Murphy, J.P. (1999). "Progenitor germplasm of domesticated hexaploid oat". Crop science. 39 (4): 1208–1214. doi:10.2135/cropsci1999.0011183x003900040042x. 
  7. ^ a b "Oats production in 2014, Crops/World Regions/Production Quantity from pick lists". Food and Agriculture Organization, Statistics Division, FAOSTAT. 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017. 
  8. ^ Gauldie, Enid (1981). The Scottish country miller, 1700–1900: a history of water-powered meal milling in Scotland. Edinburgh: J. Donald. ISBN 0-85976-067-7. 
  9. ^ Heuzé V., Tran G., Boudon A., Lebas F., 2016. Oat forage. Feedipedia, a programme by INRA, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO. Last updated on April 13, 2016, 16:26
  10. ^ "Grazing of Oat Pastures". eXtension. 2008-02-11. Retrieved 2013-03-27. 
  11. ^ The Compleat Housewife, p. 169, Eliza Smith, 1739
  13. ^ Heuzé V., Tran G., Nozière P., Renaudeau D., Lessire M., Lebas F., 2016. Oats. Feedipedia, a programme by INRA, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO. Last updated on April 15, 2016, 11:21
  14. ^ Duke, James A (2002-06-27). James A. Duke, Handbook of medicinal herbs, CRC Press, 2002. ISBN 9781420040463. 
  15. ^ "Nutrition for everyone: carbohydrates". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Department of Health and Human Services. 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014. 
  16. ^ "LDL Cholesterol and Oatmeal". WebMD. 2 February 2009. 
  18. ^ "Seed Storage Proteins: Structures 'and Biosynthesis" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-03-27. 
  25. ^ Ciacci C, Ciclitira P, Hadjivassiliou M, Kaukinen K, Ludvigsson JF, McGough N; et al. (2015). "The gluten-free diet and its current application in coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis". United European Gastroenterol J (Review). 3 (2): 121–35. doi:10.1177/2050640614559263. PMC 4406897 . PMID 25922672. 
  27. ^ a b Pulido OM, Gillespie Z, Zarkadas M, Dubois S, Vavasour E, Rashid M; et al. (2009). "Introduction of oats in the diet of individuals with celiac disease: a systematic review". Adv Food Nutr Res (Systematic Review). Advances in Food and Nutrition Research. 57: 235–85. doi:10.1016/S1043-4526(09)57006-4. ISBN 9780123744401. PMID 19595389. 
  28. ^ a b Rashid M, Butzner D, Burrows V, Zarkadas M, Case S, Molloy M; et al. (2007). "Consumption of pure oats by individuals with celiac disease: a position statement by the Canadian Celiac Association". Can J Gastroenterol (Guideline). 21 (10): 649–51. PMC 2658132 . PMID 17948135. 
  31. ^ "Oat crown rust". Cereal Disease Laboratory. United States Department of Agriculture| Agricultural Research Service. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2015. 
  32. ^ "Oats – Chapter 7 – Official Grain Grading Guide – 5 / 7". 2012-07-27. Retrieved 2013-03-27. 
  33. ^ The Sparkpeople cookbook: love your food, lose the weight, Galvin, M., Romnie, S., May House Inc, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4019-3132-2, page 98.
  34. ^ [" "What is out flour?"] Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  35. ^ Partridge, Eric (1995). Janet Whitcut, ed. Usage and Abusage: A Guide to Good English (1st American ed.). New York: W.W. Norton, 1995. p. 82. ISBN 0-393-03761-4. 
  36. ^ a b NA (2007). Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 522. ISBN 978-0-19-920687-2. 
  37. ^ List of Commodity Delivery Dates on Wikinvest

External linksEdit