Wheat

"According to the basic evolutionary criteria of survival and reproduction, wheat has become one of the most successful plants in the history of the earth."

"Worldwide, wheat covers about 2.25 million square kilometres of the globe's surface, almost ten times the size of Britain."

"the new agricultural task demanded so much so much time that people were forced to settle permanently next to their wheat field. This completely changed their way of life. We did not domesticate wheat. It domesticated us."

"Cultivating wheat much more food per unit of territory, and thereby enabled Homo sapiens to multiply exponentially."

"Bread may be made out of wheat flour, water, , and salt. Even when it contains no other ingredients than these, it has not always the same food value, pound for pound, for flours themselves differ in composition, and, moreover, some flours take up more water than others, the result being moister bread. Sometimes a little sugar or fat is added to the ingredients, and milk is often substituted for part of the water. These substances contribute somewhat to the nutritive valued of the bread, but they are used in such small amounts that they are much less important than the flour. The food value of a pound of bread is, therefore, not far different from that of the flour used in making it."

"TILLERING The wheat plant has the ability to , i.e. to produce lateral branches. At the end of the vegetative phase of development, the plant will consist of, in addition to the main shoot, a number of tillers. Exactly how many are present at this stage varies widely depending on factors such as plant population, sowing date, mineral nutrition and the application of plant growth regulators. Of the tillers present at this time, only a proportion will survive, the rest dying without producing an , possibly due to competition for resources, such as light or nutrients."

"Historic documents confirm that wheat is the earliest field crop used for human food processing ... It also became the leading grain used for human consumption due to its nutritive profile and relatively easy harvesting, storing, transportation, and processing, as compared to other grains. The earliest varieties, grown 12,000–17,000 years ago in the Near East, were and . Continued breeding resulted in the development of new varieties around the world that often became adapted to areas previously unsuited for the cultivation of wheat. The main wheat varieties grown today are , which is a hexaploid with six groups of seven s in each group. This species includes hard red winter, hard red spring, soft red winter, and white wheats. Another wheat durum is a tetraploid, containing four groups of seven chromosomes totaling 28 chromosomes. The botanical name of is Triticum durum. A limited area is planted with the soft white wheat variety of Triticum aestivum, subspecies compactum, commonly known as . Currently about 4000 different wheat varieties are grown around the world."

"Wheat is the dominant crop in temperate countries being used for human food and livestock feed. Its success depends partly on its adaptability and high yield potential but also on the protein fraction which confers the viscoelastic properties that allow dough to be processed into bread, , s, and other food products. Wheat also contributes s, s, and s, and beneficial s and components to the human diet, and these are particularly enriched in whole-grain products. However, wheat products are also known or suggested to be responsible for a number of adverse reactions in humans, including intolerances (notably ) and allergies (respiratory and food). Current and future concerns include sustaining wheat production and quality with reduced inputs of agrochemicals and developing lines with enhanced quality for specific end-uses, notably for s and human nutrition."

"11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the is perished."

"36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: 37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: 38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body."