Wheat

Triticum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Subfamily:	Pooideae
Tribe:	Triticeae
Genus:	Triticum L.
Species
T. aestivum T. aethiopicum T. araraticum T. boeoticum T. carthlicum T. compactum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. ispahanicum T. karamyschevii T. macha T. militinae T. monococcum T. polonicum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum T. timopheevii T. turanicum T. turgidum T. urartu T. vavilovii T. zhukovskyi References:   Serial No. 42236 ITIS 2002-09-22

Wheat (Genus: Triticum) is a cereal grain. People eat it most often in the form of bread. It is a kind of grass whose fruit is a "head of wheat" with edible seeds. It was first grown in the Levant, a region of the Near East. Now it is cultivated worldwide.

World trade in wheat is greater than for all other crops combined.^[1] Globally, wheat is the leading source of vegetable protein in human food. It has a higher protein content than other major cereals such as maize (corn) or rice.^[2] In terms of total production, it is second to rice as the main human food crop and ahead of maize (maize is used more for animal feeds). Almost 800,000,000 tonnes are harvested every year.

Wheat was a key factor enabling the emergence of city-based societies at the start of civilization. It was one of the first crops that could be easily cultivated on a large scale, and its seeds could be stored for long periods in a dry climate. Wheat helped the growth of city-states in the Fertile Crescent, including the Babylonian, Assyrian and persian empires.

Wheat grain is a staple food used to make flour for leavened, flat and steamed breads, biscuits, cookies, cakes, breakfast cereal, pasta, noodles, couscous.^[3] It can also be fermented to make ethanol,^[4] for alcoholic drinks,^[5] or biofuel.^[6]

An allergy to wheat (mostly from its gluten) can cause coeliac disease, which makes the sufferer have diarrhoea if they eat any food containing wheat.

1. ↑ Curtis; Rajaraman; MacPherson (2002). "Bread Wheat". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
2. ↑ Nutrient data laboratory. United States Department of Agriculture.
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
5. ↑ Neill, Richard 2002. Booze: the drinks bible for the 21st century. p112, Octopus - Cassell. 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.