Hi,
in the rye berries I just bought there are few other and unwanted seeds that I don't know. I uploaded a high resolution picture of them
http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/4031/chicchi.jpg
I guess I can recognize soft wheat and oat, but I'm very curious about the small round black one at the center. It looks a bit like pepper but surely it's not. I hope it's not ergot. Please, tell me it's NOT ergot or I'll become more paranoid than usual ;(
Nico
From where did you buy?
Thanks.
from a shop of organic food very common here in italy.
that I found when I googled the term. Those tend to look more like an elongated caraway seed, but black in color.
I'm not sure that the round object is a seed. The surface texture makes me think of something that has already been through something else's digestive tract. If that's the case, and if it's the only one in the whole bag, then you are well within USDA limits for foreign material. If that's what it is, but there are a whole lot of them, I'd say ask for a refund. A peppercorn, it's not. You might want to cut into it to see if that helps with identification.
And, hey, it could be a seed.
Paul
Thanks,
It's pretty tough, hard to believe that it's been "digested" ;)
The round one might be a weed seed of some sort, possibly pigweed, which has very small black seeds. The odd-balls in your rye put me in mind of what it must have been like in the old days, before herbicides and when grain was harvested and processed by hand...the old-timers must have had lots of odd-ball seeds mixed in with their grains.
p.s. To get a look a ergot, just go to Google Images and search on "ergot" or "Claviceps purpurea". It will bring up beautiful pictures for you.
p.p.s Demeter "clad in robes of Purple" is ergot.
well, this is relieving.
Thanks!