The term wheat refers to various plants from the sweet grass family. Common wheat is usually grown.
What you should know about wheat
Of the Common wheat is the most commonly cultivated type of grain in Germany. The plant is also called Bread wheat or as Seed wheat designated. The common wheat can be grown as winter or summer grain.
The annual herbaceous plant reaches a stature height between 40 and 100 centimeters. In rare cases, however, wheat can reach a height of one and a half meters. The stem of the plant is hollow inside and has a very thin wall. The small leaf blades are initially hairy, but later become rough. Without the awns, the annual inflorescence is between 6 and 19 centimeters long. The ears are narrow and stand close together.
The small spikelets have three to five flowers. Awns up to 15 centimeters long sit on some lemmas. Wheat prefers a warm and relatively dry climate. Although it can be grown in cooler and humid areas, it does not produce such good yields there. The cultivation usually takes place in the lowlands or in the low mountain range up to a maximum height of 900 meters.
Wheat was one of the first types of grain that humans cultivated. It was probably created by crossing the ancient grain emmer and goat grass. Historical finds show that wheat was grown around 9,000 years ago. The center of cultivation at that time was probably in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia. Around 5000 BC Then the wheat came to Europe. In ancient times it was first cultivated in the Mediterranean by the Romans. It was not until the 11th century AD that wheat was also grown in Central Europe.
Today, after maize, wheat is the second most widely grown grain in the world. The largest producers of common wheat are China, India and the USA. Around 26 million tons of common wheat are harvested in Germany every year. With 38,000 tons per year, durum wheat is grown relatively little.
The harvested grains of the wheat are processed into flour in mills. For this, the wheat is first crushed in a so-called roller mill. It is then sieved. The entire process is called a passage. 15 passages can be required to achieve the desired flour consistency. White bread in particular is later made from common wheat. Cakes or biscuits also usually contain wheat flour. Durum wheat is mainly used to make pasta.
Importance to health
Wheat has been an indispensable staple food for thousands of years. But in recent years the grain has fallen into disrepute. Wheat is difficult to digest, makes you dependent and stupid. Most of these theses are not scientifically tenable. The clinical pictures that are really directly related to wheat are rather rare.
Wheat provides some micronutrients like calcium and magnesium. The grain also contains a lot of energy in the form of carbohydrates. This saturates it very quickly.
Wheat contains a lot of vitamin E. Wheat germ oil in particular is rich in vitamin E. No other oil contains so much vitamin E. Wheat germ oil is very suitable for external care. It protects against free radicals and stimulates the formation of new cells in the skin. It can reduce stretch marks and soften scars. Due to its protective and regenerating effect, wheat germ oil can also be used to care for flaky and dry scalps.
Wheat germ oil also has numerous benefits when taken internally. It has an antioxidant effect and, due to its health-promoting fat composition, can have a positive effect on the cholesterol level. In this way cardiovascular diseases can be prevented.
Ingredients & nutritional values
| Nutritional information | Amount per 100 gram |
| Calories 339 | Fat content 2.5 g |
| cholesterol 0 mg | sodium 2 mg |
| potassium 431 mg | carbohydrates 71 g |
| protein 14 g | magnesium 144 mg |
Wheat is made up of 70 percent carbohydrates. It contains 12 percent protein, 2 percent fat and 12 percent water. Wheat consists of 2 percent minerals and around 2 percent fiber. Wheat contains magnesium, potassium, calcium and phosphorus. In addition, the grain has a high proportion of B vitamins. Vitamin E is also included.
Oil can also be obtained from the wheat germ. Because of the rather low oil yield, wheat germ oil is one of the expensive oils. It contains 19 percent saturated fat. The majority, however, consists of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Vitamins A, B, D, E and K are also contained in this oil.
Intolerances & allergies
Currently, an estimated 0.5 percent of the population is gluten intolerant, celiac disease. The German Celiac Society suspects, however, that the number of unreported cases is significantly higher. Celiac disease is a condition that has the characteristics of an allergy and an autoimmune disease. When eating foods containing gluten, those affected react with inflammation of the small intestine. Wheat contains a lot of gluten.
As a result, the cells of the small intestinal mucosa are damaged or even completely destroyed. As a result, there is a poorer absorption of nutrients. The patients lose weight despite a normal diet. Other possible symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, loss of appetite, depression, or fatigue. Presumably, untreated celiac disease is also associated with an increased risk of colon cancer.The diagnosis of celiac disease is made by detecting antibodies in the blood serum or by performing an intestinal biopsy. In the case of wheat allergy, there is also a reaction to wheat. Wheat-sensitive people do not have an allergic reaction to the grain, but they still show symptoms when consumed. This leads to diarrhea, gas, tiredness and general symptoms.
The cause of all complaints are probably amylase trypsin inhibitors (ATI). Due to the breeding of high-performance wheat, the content of ATI in wheat has increased. Accordingly, more and more people react with a wheat intolerance. The number of people who suffer from celiac disease is also increasing steadily.
Shopping & kitchen tips
Wheat is also available in grain form, but most of it is sold as flour. Different types of flour are distinguished depending on the degree of grinding. Type 405 is an extract flour. It is the typical white household flour that is used for fine baked goods.
Type 1600, on the other hand, is a flour that is used, for example, for dark mixed breads. The degree of grinding here is 98 percent. There are also different quality levels of common wheat: elite wheat, quality wheat, bread wheat and other wheat. There are also products available in stores that at first glance do not appear to be wheat products. For example, couscous or bulgur are made from wheat.
Preparation tips
The light wheat flour can be easily processed into cakes, pastries, ciabattas, mares or baguettes. Because of the high gluten content, most baked goods turn out very well with wheat flour.
The wheat flour type 550 is less processed and more handy. It absorbs less liquid during baking and thus stabilizes the dough. This flour is used for strudel dough and yeast pastries. The higher the type designation, the darker the color and the stronger the taste. The wheat flours of types 812, 1050 and 1600, unlike white flour, are not suitable for all types of baked goods. While bread works well with the dark flours, cakes and cookies are not so easy to make.
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