Florida Herb House Bits - A Look Back At Wheat

The workers at Florida Herb House pack and ship hundreds of pounds of their fresh dried green grass superfood powders every year. Wheatgrass and wheatgrass powder is by far a favorite for its numerous health benefits and powerful immune boosting properties. When we mention the word "wheat," many of us immediately picture a bowl of our favorite cereal or a field full of those golden wheat stalks. Let's take a look back at wheat, the staple food of many countries around the world, and a life saving commodity for several undernourished third world countries.



For thousands of years, wheat has been a main food source around the globe. Worldwide wheat fields account for more than 700 million acres of land and this number increases every year. Imagine how large 14 million bushels of wheat would look when stacked together. This is the approximate number of bushels harvested each year. A typical wheat field will produce anywhere from 15-80 bushels per acre, depending on many variables such as climate, weather, type of wheat, etc., etc. Production of wheat is led by China, USA, and Russia.



Farmers plant the wheat and then harvest it for its grain. The wheat grain or "kernel" is processed for many uses such as wheat flour, wheat bran, wheat germ and even industrial applications such as glue adhesives. The wheat kernels are processed in a multi step procedure. The outer coating of the kernel consists of mostly bran. Under the bran coating is the inner part of the kernel which is made of mostly proteins while the base of the kernel contains the "germ" or wheat germ, as most of us call it. This part of the kernel is where the plant sprouts from and is considered the nerve center of the seed. The remainder of the wheat kernel consists of starch grains and gluten. The gluten is also extracted from the kernel and used to give dough its dense sticky texture.



There are thousands and thousands of classifications and varieties of wheat plants. In 1916 to set some type of basic classification guide the United States adopted the "GSA" Grain Standards Act. This gave a basis for 5 common types of wheat plants. Those became known as Hard Red Winter Wheat, Hard Red Spring Wheat, Soft Red Winter Wheat, Durum Wheat and White Wheat. The winter wheats are more commonly harvested in the USA and produce the most bushels of wheat. These are planted in the fall and harvested in the summer. The difference between the "soft" and "hard" wheat is the climate where it grows. The hard wheat grows best in drier climates such as the Midwest states while the soft wheat is suitable in Eastern states. The top 4 wheat producing states are Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Oklahoma.



Stephen Sharp
Florida Herb House - S. Daytona Beach, FL 32119
(888) 476 - 9414

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