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1.0 History 2.0 Genetics 3.0 Plant breeding 4.0 Hulled versus free-threshing wheat 5.0 Naming 5.1 Major cultivated species of wheat 5.2 In the United States 6.0 As a food 6.1 Nutrition 6.2 Health concerns 7.0 Commercial use 8.0 Production and consumption statistics 9.0 Agronomy 10.0 Diseases 10.1 Pests 11.0 Futures contracts 12.0 See also 13.0 References QUICKSEARCH Select a DateThis MonthNext MonthAugust 2026September 2026October 2026November 2026December 2026January 2027 SPORTSTICKETS World Cup 26 World Cup Soccer New York Yankees Colorado Rockies Seattle Mariners World Cup Group Stage Arizona Diamondbacks Atlanta Braves Boston Red Sox Los Angeles Dodgers View More » CONCERTTICKETS BTS Rush Journey Shakira Bryson Tiller Earth, Wind and Fire Ariana Grande Ed Sheeran Lionel Richie The Doobie Brothers View More » THEATERTICKETS Cirque du Soleil Wicked The Lion King The Outsiders Hamilton The Great Gatsby - Theatrical Production Oh, Mary! Buena Vista Social Club - Musical Cirque du Soleil - O The Book Of Mormon View More » Event Tickets » Venues » Wheat Tickets Wheat Wiki Information Wheat (Triticum spp.) [1] is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Fertile Crescent region of the Near East. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize (784 million tons) and rice (651 million tons). [2] Wheat grain is a staple food used to make flour for leavened, flat and steamed breads; biscuits, cookies, cakes, breakfast cereal, pasta, juice, noodles, and couscous; [3] and for fermentation to make beer, [4] alcohol, vodka, [5] or biofuel. [6] Wheat is planted to a limited extent as a forage crop for livestock, and the straw can be used as fodder for livestock or as a construction material for roofing thatch. [7] [8] Although wheat supplies much of the world's dietary protein and food supply, as many as one in every 100 to 200 people has Celiac disease, a condition which results from an immune system response to a protein found in wheat: gluten (based on figures for the United States). [9] [10] [11] WHEAT TICKETS BTS Tickets Rush Tickets Journey Tickets Shakira Tickets Bryson Tiller Tickets Earth, Wind and Fire Tickets History Wheat originated in the area known as the Fertile Crescent in Western Asia. The genetic relationships between wild and domesticated populations of both einkorn and emmer wheat indicate that the most likely site of domestication is near Diyarbakir in Turkey. [12] Wild wheats were domesticated as part of the origins of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent. Cultivation and repeated harvesting and sowing of the grains of wild grasses led to the domestication of wheat through selection of mutant forms with tough ears that remained intact during harvesting, larger grains, and a tendency for the spikelets to stay on the stalk until harvested. [13] Because of the loss of seed dispersal mechanisms, domesticated wheats have limited capacity to propagate in the wild. [14] The exact timing of the first appearance of domesticated wheats is currently uncertain, but is either in the PPNA period (9800-8800 cal BC) or the early-mid PPNB (8800-7500 cal BC). Domesticated einkorn and emmer wheat has been identified at three PPNA sites in the northern Levant, Iraq ed-Dubb, Jericho and Tell Aswad, but both the dating and the domesticated status of these cereals is disputed. [15] Domesticated wheats (and other Neolithic founder crops) are unambiguously present at early-mid PPNB sites in the northern Levant, such as Ain Ghazal, Abu Hureyra and Tell Aswad, and in southeast Turkey at Cafer Höyük and Çayönü. [16] Thus wheats have been domesticated for about 10,000 years. The cultivation of wheat began to spread beyond the Fertile Crescent during the Neolithic period, reaching the Aegean by 8500 cal BC and the Indian subcontinent by 6000 cal BC. By 5,000 years ago, wheat had reached Ethiopia, Great Britain, Ireland and Spain. A millennium later it reached China. Claims have been made for independent domestication of wheat outside the fertile crescent, but these lack evidence of the presence of wild wheats or of early domesticated wheat. [17] Three thousand years ago agricultural cultivation with horse-drawn plows increased cereal grain production, as did the use of seed drills to replace broadcast sowing in the 18th century. Yields of wheat continued to increase, as new land came under cultivation and with improved agricultural husbandry involving the use of fertilizers, threshing machines and reaping machines, tractor-drawn cultivators and planters, and varieties adapted to intensive cultivation (see green revolution and Norin 10 wheat). [18] Genetics thumb Wheat genetics is more complicated than that of most other domesticated species. Some wheat species are diploid, with two sets of chromosomes, but many are stable polyploids, with four sets of chromosomes (tetraploid) or six (hexaploid). [19] Einkorn wheat (T. monococcum ) is diploid. Most tetraploid wheats (e.g. emmer and durum wheat) are derived from wild emmer, T. dicoccoides . Wild emmer is the result of a hybridization between two diploid wild grasses, T. urartu and a wild goatgrass such as Aegilops searsii or Ae. speltoides . The hybridization that formed wild emmer occurred in the wild, long before domestication. Hexaploid wheats evolved in farmers' fields. Either domesticated emmer or durum wheat hybridized with yet another wild diploid grass (Aegilops tauschii ) to make the hexaploid wheats, spelt wheat and bread wheat. Plant breeding In traditional agricultural systems wheat populations often consist of landraces, informal farmer-maintained populations that often maintain high levels of morphological diversity. Although landraces of wheat are no longer grown in Europe and North America, they continue to be important elsewhere. The origins of formal wheat breeding lie in the nineteenth century, when single line varieties were created through selection of seed from a single plant noted to have desired properties. Modern wheat breeding developed in the first years of the twentieth century and was closely linked to the development of Mendelian genetics. The standard method of breeding inbred wheat cultivars is by crossing two lines using hand emasculation, then selfing or inbreeding the progeny. Selections are identified (shown to have the genes responsible for the varietal differences) ten or more generations before release as a variety or cultivar. F1 hybrid wheat cultivars should not be confused with wheat cultivars deriving from standard plant breeding. Heterosis or hybrid vigor (as in the familiar F1 hybrids of maize) occurs in common (hexaploid) wheat, but it is difficult to produce seed of hybrid cultivars on a commercial scale as is done with maize because wheat flowers are complete and normally self-pollinate. [20] Commercial hybrid wheat seed has been produced using chemical hybridizing agents, plant growth regulators that selectively interfere with pollen development, or naturally occurring cytoplasmic male sterility systems. Hybrid wheat has been a limited commercial success in Europe (particularly France), the USA and South Africa. [21] The major breeding objectives include high grain yield, good quality, disease and insect resistance and tolerance to abiotic stresses include mineral, moisture and heat tolerance. The major diseases in temperate environments include Fusarium head blight, leaf rust and stem rust, whereas in tropical areas spot blotch (wheat) (also known as Helminthosporium leaf blight). Hulled versus free-threshing wheat The four wild species of wheat, along with the domesticated varieties einkorn, [22] emmer [23] and spelt, [24] have hulls (in German, Spelzweizen ). This more primitive morphology (in evolutionary terms) consists of toughened glumes that tightly enclose the grains, and (in domesticated wheats) a semi-brittle rachis that breaks easily on threshing. The result is that when threshed, the wheat ear breaks up into spikelets. To obtain the grain, further processing, such as milling or pounding, is needed to remove the hulls or husks. In contrast, in free-threshing (or naked) forms such as durum wheat and common wheat, the glumes are fragile and the rachis tough. On threshing, the chaff breaks up, releasing the grains. Hulled wheats are often stored as spikelets because the toughened glumes give good protection against pests of stored grain. Naming There are many botanical classification systems used for wheat species, discussed in a separate article on Wheat taxonomy. The name of a wheat species from one information source may not be the name of a wheat species in another. Within a species, wheat cultivars are further classified by wheat breeders and farmers in terms of growing season, such as winter wheat vs. spring wheat, by gluten content, such as hard wheat (high protein content) vs. soft wheat (high starch content), or by grain color (red, white or amber). Major cultivated species of wheat Common wheat or Bread wheat — (T. aestivum ) A hexaploid species that is the most widely cultivated in the world. Durum — (T. durum ) The only tetraploid form of wheat widely used today, and the second most widely cultivated wheat. Einkorn — (T. monococcum ) A diploid species with wild and cultivated variants. Domesticated at the same time as emmer wheat, but never reached the same importance. Emmer — (T. dicoccon ) A tetraploid species, cultivated in ancient times but no longer in widespread use. Spelt — (T. spelta ) Another hexaploid species cultivated in limited quantities. In the United States thumb Classes used in the United States are Durum — Very hard, translucent, light colored grain used to make semolina flour for pasta. Hard Red Spring — Hard, brownish, high protein wheat used for bread and hard baked goods. Bread Flour and high gluten flours are commonly made from hard red spring wheat. It is primarily traded at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. Hard Red Winter — Hard, brownish, mellow high protein wheat used for bread, hard baked goods and as an adjunct in other flours to increase protein in pastry flour for pie crusts. Some brands of unbleached all-purpose flours are commonly made from hard red winter wheat alone. It is primarily traded by the Kansas City Board of Trade. One variety is known as "turkey red wheat", and was brought to Kansas by Mennonite immigrants from Russia. Soft Red Winter — Soft, low protein wheat used for cakes, pie crusts, biscuits, and muffins. Cake flour, pastry flour, and some self-rising flours with baking powder and salt added for example, are made from soft red winter wheat. It is primarily traded by the Chicago Board of Trade. Hard White — Hard, light colored, opaque, chalky, medium protein wheat planted in dry, temperate areas. Used for bread and brewing. Soft White — Soft, light colored, very low protein wheat grown in temperate moist areas. Used for pie crusts and pastry. Pastry flour, for example, is sometimes made from soft white winter wheat. Hard wheats are harder to process and red wheats may need bleaching. Therefore, soft and white wheats usually command higher prices than hard and red wheats on the commodities market. As a food Raw wheat can be powdered into flour; germinated and dried creating malt; crushed and into cracked wheat; parboiled (or steamed), dried, crushed and de-branned into bulgur; or processed into semolina, pasta, or roux. Wheat is a major ingredient in such foods as bread, porridge, crackers, biscuits, Muesli, pancakes, pies, pastries, cakes & cupcakes, cookies, muffins, rolls, doughnuts, gravy, boza (a fermented beverage), and breakfast cereals (e.g. Wheatena, Cream of Wheat, Shredded Wheat, and Wheaties). Nutrition 100 grams of hard red winter wheat[clarification needed] contain about 12.6 grams of protein, 1.5 grams of total fat, 71 grams of carbohydrate (by difference), 12.2 grams of dietary fiber, and 3.2 mg of iron (17% of the daily requirement); the same weight of hard red spring wheat contains about 15.4 grams of protein, 1.9 grams of total fat, 68 grams of carbohydrate (by difference), 12.2 grams of dietary fiber, and 3.6 mg of iron (20% of the daily requirement). [25] Gluten, a protein found in wheat (and other Triticeae), cannot be tolerated by people with celiac disease (an autoimmune disorder in ~1% of Indo-European populations). [26] Much of the carbohydrate fraction of wheat is starch. Wheat starch is an important commercial product of wheat, but second in economic value to wheat gluten. [27] The principal parts of wheat flour are gluten and starch. These can be separated in a kind of home experiment, by mixing flour and water to form a small ball of dough, and kneading it gently while rinsing it in a bowl of water. The starch falls out of the dough and sinks to the bottom of the bowl, leaving behind a ball of gluten. Health concerns Roughly 1% of the population [28] has coeliac (also written as celiac) disease—a condition that is caused by an adverse immune system reaction to gliadin, a gluten protein found in wheat (and similar proteins of the tribe Triticeae which includes other species such as barley and rye). Upon exposure to gliadin, the enzyme tissue transglutaminase modifies the protein, and the immune system cross-reacts with the bowel tissue, causing an inflammatory reaction. That leads to flattening of the lining of the small intestine, which interferes with the absorption of nutrients. The only effective treatment is a lifelong gluten-free diet. While the disease is caused by a reaction to wheat proteins, it is not the same as wheat allergy. Commercial use Harvested wheat grain that enters trade is classified according to grain properties for the purposes of the commodities market. Wheat buyers use the classifications to help determine which wheat to purchase as each class has special uses. Wheat producers determine which classes of wheat are the most profitable to cultivate with this system. Wheat is widely cultivated as a cash crop because it produces a good yield per unit area, grows well in a temperate climate even with a moderately short growing season, and yields a versatile, high-quality flour that is widely used in baking. Most breads are made with wheat flour, including many breads named for the other grains they contain like most rye and oat breads. The popularity of foods made from wheat flour creates a large demand for the grain, even in economies with significant food surpluses. In 2007 there was a dramatic rise in the price of wheat due to freezes and flooding in the northern hemisphere and a drought in Australia. Wheat futures in September, 2007 for December and March delivery had risen above $9.00 a bushel, prices never seen before. [29] There were complaints in Italy about the high price of pasta. [30] This followed a wider trend of escalating food prices around the globe, driven in part by climatic conditions such as drought in Australia, the diversion of arable land to other uses (such as producing government-subsidised bio-oil crops), and later by some food-producing nations placing bans or restrictions on exports in order to satisfy their own consumers. Other drivers affecting wheat prices include the movement to bio fuels (in 2008, a third of corn crops in the US are expected to be devoted to ethanol production) and rising incomes in developing countries, which is causing a shift in eating patterns from predominantly rice to more meat based diets (a rise in meat production equals a rise in grain consumption - seven kilograms of grain is required to produce one kilogram of beef. [31] Production and consumption statistics In 2003, global per capita wheat consumption was 67 kg, with the highest per capita consumption (239 kg) found in Kyrgyzstan. [32] Unlike rice, wheat production is more widespread globally though China's share is almost one-sixth of the world. | Top Ten Wheat Producers — 2007 (million metric ton) 124.7 104 69.3 49.3 44.9 25.2 21.7 17.5 15.2 History of Iran Empires of Persia Kings of Persia BCE Sialk civilization 7500–1000 Jiroft civilization (Aratta) 4000–? Proto-Elamite civilization 3200–2800 Elamite dynasties 2800–550 Kassites 16th–12th cent. Kingdom of Mannai 10th–7th cent. Median Empire 728–550 Achaemenid Empire 550–330 Seleucid Empire 330–150 Parthian Empire 248–CE 226 CE Sassanid Empire 226–651 Afrighid dynasty ?–995 Patriarchal Caliphate 637–651 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Alavid dynasty 864–928 Sajid dynasty 889/890–929 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Samanid dynasty 875–999 Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043 Buyid dynasty 934–1055 Sallarid 942–979 Ma'munids 995-1017 Ghaznavid Empire 963–1187 Ghori dynasty 1149–1212 Seljukid Empire 1037–1194 Khwarezmid dynasty 1077–1231 Ilkhanate 1256–1353 Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393 Chupanid dyansty 1337–1357 Jalayerid dynasty 1339–1432 Timurid Empire 1370–1506 Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans 1407–1468 Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans 1378–1508 Safavid dynasty 1501–1722* Hotaki dynasty 1722–1729 Afsharid dynasty 1736–1750 Zand dynasty 1750–1794 Qajar dynasty 1781–1925 Pahlavi dynasty 1925–1979 Iranian Revolution 1979 The Interim Government of Iran 1979–1980 Islamic Republic of Iran since 1980 * or 1736 Timeline [ edit]	14.8
World Total	725
Source: UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) [33]

Agronomy

• Wheat at the anthesis stage




Diseases

Estimates of the amount of wheat production lost owing to plant diseases vary between 10-25% in Missouri. ^[34] A wide range of organisms infect wheat, of which the most important are viruses and fungi.



Pests

Wheat is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species including The Flame, Rustic Shoulder-knot, Setaceous Hebrew Character and Turnip Moth.



Futures contracts

Wheat futures are traded on the Chicago Board of Trade, Kansas City Board of Trade, and Minneapolis Grain Exchange, and have delivery dates in March (H), May (K), July (N), September (U), and December (Z). ^[35]



See also

• Bran
• Chaff
• Deficit irrigation
• Husk
• Wheat germ oil
• Wheat middlings
• Whole wheat flour

References

1. Belderok, Bob & Hans Mesdag & Dingena A. Donner. (2000) ''Bread-Making Quality of Wheat''. Springer. p.3. ISBN 0-7923-6383-3.
2. FAOSTAT
3. Cauvain, Stanley P. & Cauvain P. Cauvain. (2003) ''Bread Making''. CRC Press. p. 540. ISBN 1-85573-553-9.
4. Palmer, John J. (2001) ''How to Brew''. Defenestrative Pub Co. p. 233. ISBN 0-9710579-0-7.
5. Neill, Richard. (2002) ''Booze: The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century''. Octopus Publishing Group - Cassell Illustrated. p. 112. ISBN 1-84188-196-1.
6. ''Department of Agriculture Appropriations for 1957: Hearings ... 84th Congress. 2d Session''. ''United States. Congress. House. Appropriations''. 1956. p. 242.
7. Smith, Albert E. (1995) ''Handbook of Weed Management Systems''. Marcel Dekker. p. 411. ISBN 0-8247-9547-4.
8. Bridgwater, W. & Beatrice Aldrich. (1966) ''The Columbia-Viking Desk Encyclopedia''. Columbia University. p. 1959.
9. Prevalence of celiac disease in at-risk and not-at-risk groups in the United States: a large multicenter study
10. Celiac Disease
11. Hill, I. D., Horvath, K., and Fasano, A., ''Epidemiology of celiac disease.'' 1: Am J Gastroenterol. 1995 Jan;90(1):163-4
12. Jorge Dubcovsky and Jan Dvorak, "Genome Plasticity a Key Factor in the Success of Polyploid Wheat Under Domestication", Science 316 5833, p. 1862, 29 June 2007
13. "Seeking Agriculture's Ancient Roots", Science 316 5853, p. 1830, 29 June 2007
14. Smith, C. Wayne. (1995) ''Crop Production''. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 60-62. ISBN 0-471-07972-3.
15. Colledge, S., Conolly, J., and Shennan, S. 2004. Archaeobotantical Evidence for the Spread of Farming in the Eastern Mediterranean. Current Anthropology 45:S35-S58; Nesbitt, M. 2002. "When and where did domesticated cereals first occur in southwest Asia?," in The dawn of farming in the Near East. Edited by R. Cappers and S. Bottema, pp. 113-132. Berlin: Ex Oriente.
16. Colledge, S. & Conolly, J. 2007. A review and synthesis of the evidence for the origins of farming on Cyprus and Crete. Pp. 53-74 in The Origins and Spread of Domestic Crops in Southwest Asia and Europe. Colledge, S. & Conolly, J. Walnut Creek, California: Left Coast Press.
17. Daniel Zohary, Maria Hopf (2000). Domestication of plants in the Old World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
18. Ears of plenty: The story of wheat, The Economist, December 24th 2005, pp. 28-30
19. Hancock, James F. (2004) ''Plant Evolution and the Origin of Crop Species''. CABI Publishing. ISBN 0-85199-685-X.
20. Bajaj, Y. P. S. (1990) ''Wheat''. Springer. pp. 161-63. ISBN 3-540-51809-6.
21. Basra, Amarjit S. (1999) ''Heterosis and Hybrid Seed Production in Agronomic Crops''. Haworth Press. pp. 81-82. ISBN 1-56022-876-8.
22. Potts, D. T. (1996) ''Mesopotamia Civilization: The Material Foundations'' Cornell University Press. p. 62. ISBN 0-8014-3339-8.
23. Nevo, Eviatar & A. B. Korol & A. Beiles & T. Fahima. (2002) ''Evolution of Wild Emmer and Wheat Improvement: Population Genetics, Genetic Resources, and Genome...''. Springer. p. 8. ISBN 3-540-41750-8.
24. Vaughan, J. G. & P. A. Judd. (2003) ''The Oxford Book of Health Foods''. Oxford University Press. p. 35. ISBN 0-19-850459-4.
25. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 19 (2006)
26. Recent advances in coeliac disease
27. Starch Institute, [http://www.starch.dk/isi/starch/tm33www-wheat.htm TM 33-1www - ISI Technical Memorandum on Production of Wheat Starch. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
28. Coeliac UK - The charity for people with coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis
29. "Wheat futures again hit new highs" article by Victoria Sizemore Long in ''The Kansas City Star'' September 28, 2007
30. "Wheat Prices Send Italian Pasta Costs Up" Associated Press story by Colleen Barry, September 13, 2007 By COLLEEN BARRY – Sep 13, 2007
31. "Broker picks in the soft commodities sector" in ''CompareShares'' April 2, 2008
32. http://faostat.fao.org/ FAOSTAT
33. Major Food And Agricultural Commodities And Producers - Countries By Commodity
34. G4319 Wheat Diseases in Missouri, MU Extension
35. List of Commodity Delivery Dates on Wikinvest