Raw wheat can be ground into wheat flour or semoline, germinated and dried to create malt, crushed into cracked wheat; parboiled, dried, crushed and made into groats.

Wheat is a major ingredient in foods such as bread, biscuits, crackers, pan cakes, pies, pastries, cakes, cookies, muffins, rolls, dough nuts and breakfast cereals.

One hundred grams of hard red winter wheat contain 12.6 grams of protein, 1.5 grams of fat, 12.2 grams of dietary fiber and 3.2 mgm of iron. Most of the carbohydrate in wheat is starch. The principal parts of wheat flour are gluten and starch.

These two can be separated by mixing flour and water to form a small ball of dough and kneading it gently while rinsing it in a bowl of water. The starch falls out of the dough and sinks to the bottom of the bowl, leaving behind a ball of gluten.

Wheat is grown on more land than any other crop. World trade in wheat is greater than all the other crops combined. along with rice, wheat is the world’s most favored staple food. Wheat provides more nourishment for humans than any other food source.

Wheat has the ability to grow anywhere from near arctic regions to equator and from sea level to plains of Tibet about 4000 meters above sea level. Wheat can be stored easily and converted to flour easily to prepare many tasty, interesting and satisfying food.

The most common forms of wheat are white and red wheat. However, other natural forms of wheat also exist. In the highlands of Ethiopia grows the purple wheat, rich in anti-oxidants. Other nutritious species of natural wheat include black, yellow and blue wheat.

Several screening studies in Europe, South America, Australasia, and the USA suggest that approximately 0.5–1% of the populations may have an undetected disease. It is a condition caused by an adverse immune system reaction to a gluten protein found in wheat, barley and rye. This interferes with the absorption of the nutrients by the small intestine. The only way to prevent this is to eat gluten free diet.

Though this disease is caused by a reaction to wheat proteins, it is different from wheat allergy.