Oat is an annual herbaceous plant of the genus Avena L. in the family Oats of the family Gramineae. It is an important forage, feed and food crop. The most cultivated oats in the world are A. sativa L., followed by Oriental oats ( A. orientalis Schreb.), Mediterranean oats ( A. byzantina Koch) and naked oats ( A. nuda L.). The grains of the first three types have lemmas (hulls) and are called lemma-bearing or skinned oats. The grains of the latter type do not have lemmas and are called bare-grained or bare oats. In foreign countries, husk oats are mainly grown, while in China, bare oats are mainly grown, followed by husk oats. The common names of naked oats in China include oats, jade wheat, bell wheat, etc.