Have you ever thought that every meal we eat is influenced by an ancient and powerful plant?

This plant is wheat—one of the world’s oldest food crops and one of its most important.

Starting from the middle and lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the two river basins, wheat has accompanied mankind for about 12,000 years. Its existence not only shapes our food culture but also affects the global economic pattern.

But what makes wheat such a monumental force? Let's delve into the rich tapestry of this venerable food crop.

Wheat is a perennial herbaceous plant. The stems are upright and clustered, up to 100 cm in height. The leaf sheaths are loose and phimosis, the ligule is membranous, and the leaves are long and lanceolate. The spike is upright, the spikelet contains many small flowers, the glume is oval, the lemma is oblong-lanceolate, and the inner lemma and the outer lemma are almost equal in length. The flowering and fruiting period is from May to July.

The history of human wheat cultivation has evolved from one-grain wheat to two-grain wheat, and then to the current ordinary wheat.

Wheat is widely distributed around the world due to its strong adaptability, from inland to coastal areas, from basins to plateaus.

Because it likes a cool and humid climate, it is mainly planted between 67 degrees north latitude and 45 degrees south latitude, especially in Eurasia and North America in the northern hemisphere. Its planting area accounts for about 90% of the world's total wheat area.

Among the total wheat area in the world, winter wheat accounts for about 75%, and the rest is spring wheat. Spring wheat is mainly concentrated in countries such as the United States and Canada, accounting for about 90% of the world's total spring wheat area.

The main wheat-producing areas are in Asia, which accounts for about 45% of the world's wheat area, followed by Europe, which accounts for 25%, North America, which accounts for 15%, and Africa, Oceania, and South America, which each account for about 5%.

Wheat is the world's largest staple crop and an important food source on which human life depends. About 35%-40% of the world's population relies on wheat as their main food. After ordinary wheat grains are ground into flour, they can be processed to make bread, noodles, instant noodles, biscuits, pastries, pizza, and other foods; durum wheat flour can be made into macaroni and other foods.

Floating wheat (immature grains) can also be used as a medicinal material, and wheat seedling juice has become one of the popular health foods in recent years. Wheat bran, a by-product of wheat grain grinding, can be used as concentrated feed for poultry and livestock. In addition, it can also be used as a raw material for soy sauce, vinegar, maltose, wheat koji (a type of distiller's yeast), etc.

Wheat grains are rich in carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and a variety of mineral elements that are beneficial to the human body. They are easy to process and resistant to storage and transportation. They are not only the processing raw materials for various staple and non-staple foods in most countries in the world, but also the main reserves of various countries and world grain trade.

The story of wheat is an epic intertwined between human civilization and nature. From ancient times to the present, it has accompanied the evolution of mankind and has become an indispensable part of our lives. Whether it is fragrant bread or unique-tasting noodles, they are all inseparable from the dedication of wheat. Let us continue to cherish and explore this ancient and great plant, wheat, with gratitude.