ABSTRACT
Wheat is grown widely throughout the world and is consumed in many forms, most commonly bread, biscuits, breakfast cereals, pasta, noodles, and beer. ´ere is signi…cant evidence that the earliest cultivation of wheat took place in the “Fertile Crescent” in today’s southern Turkey and northern Syria. Of the wild types that were domesticated and cultivated, two major cultivars of wheat still exist: tetraploid hard wheats (a.k.a. durum wheats, Triticum turgidum) and hexaploid wheats (a.k.a. bread wheats, Triticum aestivum). In North America, wheat is divided into several major classes. ´ese classes are divided by milling quality (hard vs. so¦), color of the bran (red vs. white), and whether the wheat requires vernalization (overwintering) to grow. ´ ere are other classes for durum and club wheat, and other “boutique” wheats like purple wheat are kept separate.
