Wheat

Wheat was one of the very first cereal crops to be cultivated, and along with rice and maize, is one of the most valuable of all food grains. It may be used in all stages of its processing, from the wholewheat berry to fine ground flour. Cultivated across the world, the major wheat growing countries include China, India, the US, Russia, France and Canada. It is the UK's most important crop, with nearly 15 million tonnes produced every year.

Winter wheat is planted in locations where the winters are short and not too harsh. It is planted during the autumn months, lies dormant during the winter, sprouts in the late winter or early spring, and is ready for harvesting in the early summer. In comparison, spring wheat is planted in locations where the winters are longer and more bitter. It is planted in the spring and harvested in the late summer and autumn.

The wheat grain consists of three major components:

• Bran, a fibre-rich papery layer that covers the inner kernel;
• Wheatgerm, the oily part of the seed from which a new wheat plant sprouts (also known simply as the germ); and
• Endosperm, the largest part of the grain containing most of the protein and carbohydrates, but less nutrients than the bran and germ.

Each of these components may be used in recipes, either separately (for example, semolina, produced from the endosperm) or as a whole (such as cracked wheat).

The grain may also be ground into a variety of different flours, which can be broadly divided into those made from soft-grained or weak wheats grown in temperate areas, suitable for cakes, biscuits and general use (for example, plain flour and soft flour), and those made from high-gluten, hard or strong varieties grown in hot, dry areas and used for bread and pasta (for example, type 00 flour and strong flour). All of these different varieties of flour may contain varying amounts of the whole grain; for example, most of the bran and wheatgerm are removed when making white flour, whilst wholemeal (or wholewheat) flour consists of the whole of the wheat grain.

In this section, we've put together a guide to the range of wheat products available, from the entire wholewheat grain to highly refined white flour.