What is Wheat? – Definition, Benefits, Properties, Uses, and More

Wheat Definition

Wheat is one of the most common worlds to eat cereal grains. It comes from a variety of grass (Triticum) that is grown in numberless variation worldwide.

Wheat is the primary kind. Many other closely related species include durum, spelled, emmer, einkorn, and Khorasan wheat.

White and whole-wheat flour are vital ingredients in baked goods. Other wheat-based foods involve pasta, noodles, semolina, bulgur, and couscous.

Wheat is most controversial because it contains gluten, which can trigger a harmful immune response in predisposed individuals. However, whole-grain wheat can be a rich source of various antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fiber for people who tolerate it.

What are the Benefits of Wheat?

Most of its therapeutic advantages center on whole-wheat consumption since many of its benefits find in nutrients that the grain husk or wheat germ contains.

1. Diabetes

The high fiber content of whole wheat and its slow-absorbing carbohydrates keep blood glucose levels low.

2. Regulation of Intestinal Transit

The fiber of whole wheat regulates intestinal transit, coming very well for constipated people

3. Prevention of Breast Cancer

Whole wheat contains many phytosterols that trap the excess estrogens that we take in the diet, promoting hormone-dependent tumors.
Also, the vitamin E that wheat germ contains and that find in whole wheat and selenium’s contribution has a significant antioxidant effect, protecting cells from oxidative damage that can trigger tumor processes.
It highly recommends introducing whole wheat in menopausal women with hormone replacement therapy.

4. Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases

The fiber and phytosterols content helps keep blood cholesterol levels low by reducing cholesterol absorption from the diet and trapping bile salts that intervene in indigestion and eliminate them with the feces.
Also, vitamin E and selenium prevent the oxidation of atheroma plaques, preventing the arteries from clogging.

5. Strengthens Hair and Nails

For its contribution to vitamins of group B, zinc and sulfur amino acids

6. Regulator of the Immune System

Minerals like zinc and selenium stimulate the immune system.

What are the Nutritional Values of Wheat?

(per 100 grams)

Calories: 366 kcal

Proteins: 31 g

Fat: 10 g

Carbohydrates: 49 g

Calcium : 50 mg

Iron: 8 mg

Potassium : 892 mg

What are the Properties of Wheat?

The wheat is food energy noted for its high protein, which helps recovery and muscle development. It also contains calcium, necessary to preserve bones and teeth, and iron, which fights anemia problems.

One of its most significant properties find in the fatty acids it contains, which helps reduce cholesterol levels and strengthen the cardiovascular system.

Another benefit of wheat germ for the immune system is that it helps strengthen our body’s defenses. Also, it has antioxidant properties that delay the symptoms of aging.

Uses of Wheat

Although the most important and widespread use of wheat is in making bread, its range of use is practically as wide as the number of regions in which it is grown in the world.
The products derived from wheat made in different places positively determine by the peoples’ culture and have assumed a religious meaning and economic and nutritional importance.
In addition to leavened bread, a wide range of other products have develops by different cultures.
These include various types of flatbread (mainly in India), the French baguette, tortillas (round, small and crushed rolls, without yeast, characteristic of Mexico and Central America), pizzas, and more than 60 different types of pasta, with different color, shape, and flavor, among which are noodles (a kind of noodle from China and Southeast Asia) and other types of noodles such as macaroni and spaghetti.
It also uses to prepare bakery, confectionery, and specialties such as cakes, cookies, pancakes, puddings, ice cream cones, sweet bread, etc.
Besides being the main cereal destined for direct human consumption and rice, wheat is also essential as a fodder grain. Although only 15-20% of world production destined for this use, this is equivalent to a volume that oscillates around 100 million tons.
That represents approximately 15% of all grains destined for animal feed. Hence, its importance as forage is very relevant, and it is in third place after corn and barley.
In our country, only 150,000 tons a year destines for this use. Gluten wheat (formed when combined with water proteins, gliadin, glutenin, present in the flour), elastic consistency, adhesive, print fabrics adhesives in the paper, etc.
It also uses monosodium glutamate, whose consumption, to accentuate food flavor, is quite widespread, especially in Eastern countries.

How to Find Wheat in the Market?

1. Grain

Grain can use in dishes similar to rice. Keep in mind that it is a problematic grain and must be soaked the night before.
To cook it, put a part of wheat in 4 amounts of water with a little salt and cook for 1 hour and a half in a conventional pot.
It can mix with legumes, vegetables, rice, even paellas, added to sauces, smoothies, juices.

2. Puffed Wheat and Wheat Flakes

They can use directly in breakfast cereals, juices, smoothies, salads, fruits. It flakes can also cook to make stews, sauces.
The chips’ cooking is much less since they suffered a part of the cuisine in its transformation into fragments being good cooking of between 5-10 minutes.

3. Wheat Flour

Widely used in bakery, pastry, pasta making due to its gluten content. It is also commonly traditionally used in many dishes. Whole wheat flour provides more fiber and minerals than dehulled wheat flour.
Wheat bran: provides a large amount of fiber and minerals as it is the grain’s husk. Its use by adding it to mueslis or breakfast cereals, to yogurts, smoothies, juices.

4. Other Formats

The bulgur is a way of preparing cereals such as wheat and spelled from the east. To prepare it, they cook the grains of wheat or spelled, chop them and dry them.
Then, to cook it, the bulgur is washed first, and 1 part of the bulgur is cooked with 2 and a half pieces of water for 15-20 minutes over medium heat in a conventional pot.
The result is similar to couscous. It contains all the properties and benefits of it or spelled with which it is made and improves its digestibility.
The couscous makes from semolina cereals such as wheat, buckwheat or maize, and rice. We can find them in a standard or integral version.
It contains all the cereal properties with which they make made. They are easier to cook and digest.

Cultivation of Wheat

Three periods define the vegetative cycle of wheat. The vegetative goes from the sowing to the beginning of the encañado; the reproduction contemplates the harrowing until the heading’s culmination. The maturation goes from this phase until the harvest.
To germinate, it requires air, humidity, and a temperature of 20 to 25 ºC. Air activates oxidation, and moisture is vital for preserving the grain, so it should not exceed 11%.
Germination maintains for 4 to 10 years, but its use recommends up to two years because its capacity diminishes over time.
It will know that it can feed on its own when green leaves and primary roots observe. When the grain reserves have run out, it can say that the germination stage closes.
It can be grown in areas where it rains between 25 and 2500 mm of water per year. However, the most recommended amount is between 400 and 500 mm per cycle.

Characteristics of Wheat

Wheat is a grassy plant composed of cylindrical stems, commonly hollow, interrupted by knots and alternate leaves that sprout from them and hug the branch.
It is usually between 0.7 and 1.2 meters tall. It occurs in deep and loose soils and in areas where the temperature ranges between 3 and 30 ºC, the most optimal being between 10 and 25 ºC.
The stem’s knots extend towards the upper area, in which a spike form between 35 and 50 grains is oval. The root is fasciculate, with many ramifications, which can reach a depth of 25 to 60 centimeters.
On the other hand, the leaves are linear in shape – lanceolate (that is, straight, elongated, and tipped), with perfectly defined ligule, sheath, and auricles.
The grains are caryopsis, oval in shape, and their two tips round. The germ comes out of one of them, and in the other, a tuft of fine hairs forms—80% of the grain’s weight.
It helps by a deposit called the endosperm, which is where the embryo store. The gluten comes out from the same grain, which favors yeast manufacture and the bran clumps in the pericarp.
The flowers see in spikelets emerging from a central spike or stem. A good part of them germinates covered with glumes and lodicules.

Warnings and Contraindications of Wheat

Iodine’s contribution from cereals may not highly recommend in people with hyperthyroidism, goiter, or thyroid nodules, and their consumption should be moderate.

Conclusion

Wheat is one of the world’s most common foods and also one of the most controversial.

People who small-mind to gluten need to eliminate from their diet entirely.

However, moderate consumption of fiber-rich whole wheat may be healthy for those who tolerate it, improving digestion and preventing colon cancer.

Ultimately, if you enjoy bread, baked goods, and other products in moderation, this ubiquitous grain is unlikely to harm your health.