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Cereals - Wheat (Triticum aestivum) | |||
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Wheat
was one of the earliest plants cultivated by man after it evolved from
the wild wheat of the Fertile Crescent, an area around the Tigris/
Euphrates Rivers of south west Asia, about 8,500 years ago. Many wheat
varieties are now grown over much of the world but mainly confined to
temperate regions.
In Britain, the annual wheat production is over 15 million tonnes. Over half of this is used as animal feed for meat production. Most of the remainder is used for the production of flour for bread and cakes, or can be processed for shredded, rolled, flaked or other wheat products. A newer use for wheat is for the production of alcohol. Wheat grains are pressure cooked to release the starch granules. The resulting liquid is fermented followed by distillation to recover the alcohol. |
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