The structure of the wheat inflorescence. The wonderful world of plants Cultivated wheat

Archaeological excavations show that man first became acquainted with wheat long before the advent of agriculture. This idea is confirmed by tools for collecting cereals, pestles and mortars for grinding grain, found during excavations of layers of the Old Stone Age. The devices found say that wheat is the oldest of all known grain crops on earth.

Research by scientists (N.I. Vavilova) showed that the homeland of wheat is the territory of Asia. Its cultivated form came from the territory of Georgia, where most wild species of wheat still grow. Nowadays alcohol, flour, starch, gluten, wheat and semolina are obtained from wheat; from the germ of the grain - oil. Wheat bran is used to feed poultry and livestock; the straw is used for bedding and the production of cardboard and newsprint.

Description.

Common wheat is a cultivated herbaceous annual plant. Belongs to the bluegrass family. Its stem is from 45 to 200 cm high, bare, hollow. The leaves of the plant are flat and linear. An ear with a flexible shaft, tetrahedral, two-row, loose. Wheat spikelets are located on the protrusions of the stem, each on its own and contain 3 - 5 flowers, of which only 2 - 3 spikelets produce grains. The spikelet valves are longitudinally wrinkled, ovoid, swollen, wide, and blunt at the apex. The grains are elongated-ovate or oval, reddish or whitish, rounded-triangular or round in cross-section, semi-vitreous, mealy, odorless. Two types of cultivated wheat are widely known - hard and soft. The most commonly cultivated types of soft cultivated wheat are spring and winter.

Cultivated plant common wheat in the photo.

Places of growth.

Various varieties and types of wheat are cultivated everywhere, so its crops cover 1/80 of the entire landmass of the Earth.

Preparation.

Traditional medicine uses starch, bran, wheat straw, sprouted grains, non-sprouted plant grains and bread made from them as medicinal raw materials.

Chemical composition.

Proteins, fats, microelements (potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium), carbohydrates (starch), vitamins of groups B, PP, E were found in the grains of the cultivated plant.

Pharmacological properties.

A decoction prepared from grains of the cultivated plant common wheat is used as a general tonic; a decoction of wheat bran with honey is used for laxative enemas, and is also drunk for respiratory diseases; a decoction of bread crumb is used for diarrhea. Sprouted grain is an excellent multivitamin.

Application in medicine.

The pulp, moistened with hot milk, is applied to tumors and abscesses for resorption. Bran poultice is a cosmetic product that softens the skin. Wheat bran decoction helps those who suffer from frequent constipation. It is useful for them, as well as older people, to eat 50 - 100 grams of fried wheat every day 2 - 3 r. a day before meals.

Treatment with common wheat.

Treatment of infertility in women and men with wheat germ.

Drink fresh juice from unripe cultivated wheat or germ 1/3 hour before meals, 2 - 3 r. per day 125 ml.

Sprouted wheat grains are useful for children with diseased lungs, people susceptible to dystrophy, rickets, patients with tuberculosis, prone to colds, those with bronchitis, eczema, stones in the body, stomach and duodenal ulcers, and will also help cancer patients.

For a day, rinse 50-100 grams of wheat, fill it with cold boiled water so that it just covers the grains and leave it warm for a day, covered with a napkin. The next day, germinate the next portion of grains.

To remove radioactive substances.

Microwave wheat bran and consume it 2 times a day. per day 1 tbsp. l. while eating.

Decoction of common wheat bran.

Pour 200 grams of bran over a liter of boiling water, heat over low heat for an hour, and then filter. Squeeze out the remaining bran decoction and filter again. Drink 3 - 4 r. per day 0.5 - 1 glass 1/2 hour before meals.

Treatment of diabetes mellitus with cultivated wheat.

Brew the bran with boiling milk and stirring constantly until it becomes a porridge. At the very beginning of treatment, brew only 1 tbsp per day. l. bran, and then gradually increase this dose and eat 1 tbsp of warm porridge during meals. l. at a time.

Contraindications.

Fresh bread is not indicated for patients with stomach and duodenal ulcers.

Since childhood, we have been familiar with such a grain crop as wheat. Everyone knows what wheat is, as well as the fact that it is difficult to imagine the diet of a modern person without it. Today we will deepen our knowledge about cereals, consider in detail its types, cultivation methods, properties and much more.

general characteristics

Wheat, the photo of which is probably familiar to everyone, is a one- or two-year-old genus of cereal crops. Flour obtained from is used for baking light types of bread and producing some food products. Waste from flour milling is used to feed livestock and poultry. In addition, recently they are increasingly used as industrial raw materials. The amazing plant wheat is a leading grain crop in many countries around the world, and is a key staple food in northern China, parts of India and Japan, most of the Middle East and northern Africa, and the plains of South America.

The main producer of wheat is China, followed by America. Following them are the following large producing countries: India, Russia, France, Canada, Ukraine, Turkey, Kazakhstan. Wheat grain is an important agricultural commodity of international trade, accounting for almost 60%. America is the main exporter of wheat. Behind it are: Canada, France, Australia and Argentina. Main importers: Russia, China, Japan, Egypt, Brazil, Poland, Italy, Korea, Iraq and Morocco.

There are thousands of wheat varieties and have rather complex classifications, but there are two main types - hard and soft. Soft varieties are also divided into red grain and white grain. They are generally grown in humid regions. Durum wheat varieties are grown in drier climates, for example, in areas where the steppe predominates. In Australia and Western Europe, mainly soft varieties are produced. And in regions such as America, Canada, North Africa, Western Asia, Argentina and the post-Soviet countries - mainly durum varieties.

Biology

We continue to get acquainted with such a plant as wheat. What is wheat from a biological point of view? This is the next question worth answering. Like other cereals, wheat has a culm-like stem with nodes and hollow internodes. The leaves are simple, linear, two-rowed, alternate. Each of them arises from a node, and consists of a vagina, which covers the overlying internode like a split tube, and a long plate. At the border between the plate and the vagina there are three outgrowths: a membranous tongue, which is adjacent to the stem, and a pair of finger-like ears covering it.

The upper internode, also called the peduncle, bears the inflorescence - a complex spike. It includes a geniculate central axis, and simple inflorescences extending from it - spikelets, which face the wide side towards the axis. On each spikelet there are from two to five flowers extending to the sides, which are covered on the underside with a pair of spikelet scales. In addition, each flower is protected by a pair of bracts - thick lower and relatively thin upper scales. In some varieties of wheat, the lower color scale ends in a long awn. Such varieties are called awned.

Wheat flowers are usually bisexual. They have three stamens and a pistil bearing two feathery stigmas. At the base of the tie there are 2-3 small flower films (lodicules), which perform the functions of a perianth. By the time of flowering, the lodicules swell and move apart the scales surrounding the flower. Wheat is predominantly a self-pollinating plant, but there are also species with cross-pollination. After fertilization, a small hard fruit grows from the ovary - a caryopsis, which is held in the spikelet by flower scales.

A grain, or as it is also called a caryopsis, is a pericarp formed from the wall of the ovary, which is inextricably linked to a single seed containing the embryo and endosperm. The embryo is located at the base of the grain, on the side, and includes a bud, a root, and a modified cotyledon adjacent to the endosperm - the scutellum. When the embryo germinates, the root produces the primary root system, the bud produces the “adult” roots of the plant and its above-ground organs, and the scutellum secretes enzymes for digesting the endosperm and carries its nutrients to the shoot, which has begun development by that time. This is how young wheat begins its life. The photo below will help you understand more clearly the structure of its grain.

Grain sown in the ground absorbs moisture, swells and germinates. The embryonic root and bud come out and grow down and up, respectively. On the surface of the soil, from the first node of the straw, formed from the bud, adventitious roots emerge, which branch and form a fibrous root system. The place where the stem meets the root is called the root collar. Just above the neck, the lower nodes of the stem are close to each other. Side shoots develop from the axils of their leaves. This process is called wheat tillering.

During the described processes, the plant is called germination. Then comes the stage of exit into the tube - rapid elongation of the straw. This is followed by heading - the formation of an inflorescence. During heading, the internode carries the ear 8-10 centimeters above the top leaf.

A grain that has reached its final size consists of an embryo and a watery endosperm. At first the endosperm is transparent. As the starch content increases, it turns white. This stage is called milk ripeness. The moisture content of the grain gradually decreases and its contents become like sticky dough. This stage is called waxy ripeness. Eventually, when the grain is fully ripe (technically ripe), it becomes hard.

Properties

So, we have already found out what wheat is. We also know what hard and soft varieties are. Now let's talk about the properties thanks to which this culture has found such wide application. Soft and hard varieties, on the one hand, have a lot in common, and on the other, they have a number of fundamental differences that should definitely be taken into account when using flour. If historians are to be believed, the ancient Greeks and Romans, and perhaps even earlier civilizations, knew the difference between the two main types of wheat grains.

Flour obtained from soft wheat has soft and rather large grains of starch, it has a thin and crumbly consistency, contains a little gluten and absorbs less water. This type of flour has found use in baking confectionery products. It is not suitable for bread, since products made from such flour quickly become stale and crumble heavily. In areas where soft flour cultivation predominates, bread is usually baked from a mixture of the local soft variety and the imported hard variety.

Flour obtained from durum wheat has small and hard starch grains, a fine-grained consistency, and is characterized by a high gluten content. This flour is called "strong" because it absorbs a lot of water and is used in baking bread. Durum wheat pasta is also a popular product.

Application area

The importance of wheat in human life has always been significant. As the proportion of meat and other non-grain products in people's diets increases, the amount of wheat and other grains they consume gradually decreases. Wheat is also widely used as a grain. At the same time, its milling qualities have virtually no effect on the nutritional value. In America, for example, whole grains began to be used for feed, although previously grinding waste was used.

Waste from flour milling has been fed to livestock since ancient times. Waste with a high cellulose content was used to feed cattle and horses, and waste with a low cellulose content was used to feed poultry and pigs. Wheat bran has always been valued as a nutritional supplement to the diet of ewes and pregnant cows. Previously, they were also given to horses due to their laxative properties. For pigs, fine bran, which contains the germ and the flour that adheres to it, is best. It is most effective to use them together with fishmeal, dairy by-products and slaughterhouse waste, as an additive to grain feed. In poultry farming, especially broiler farming, the use of milling waste has recently been declining due to the growing popularity of low-fiber diets.

Until recently, applied research on wheat was aimed mainly at improving its nutritional properties. Laboratory studies have shown that wheat gluten can become a raw material for the production of plastics, fibers and adhesives. The problem is that these products are fragile and highly soluble in water, which means they have no commercial value.

In recent years, there has been a trend toward a reduction in bread consumption, which has revived interest in exploring unconventional uses of wheat. Thus, with the help of special processing, they have learned to produce “instant” dishes from flour that resemble semolina porridge in appearance; high-protein flakes for a quick breakfast are made from gluten; wheat starch is used to strengthen paper. And wheat sprouts, the beneficial properties of which have been proven, began to be eaten raw.

The adhesive and viscosity properties of flour have found application in industry. Flour is used as an additive to drilling fluids used in oil production. And when extracting gold from solution, it serves as a flocculating agent. In addition, flour is used in the production of drywall for better binding of the mineral and paper parts, and also serves as a filler for waterproof adhesives for plywood. And these are just the most common ways to use wheat flour in industry.

Classification

From an economic point of view, not all wheat matters. The meaning of the plant depends on the species. The most cost-effective, and therefore common, are three summer/soft/ordinary, hard, and dense/dwarf. The first type is grown all over the world and is used mainly in baking. The second type of grain is used to produce pasta, as it is rich in gluten. This is a mixture of proteins that forms a sticky mass that binds the dough well and traps carbon dioxide bubbles in it. Thanks to gluten, the dough rises and the bread becomes fluffy. As for dwarf wheat, its flour is used mainly for crumbly baked goods.

Summer wheat is grown in the largest volumes. Its spikelet scales have a comb structure only in the upper part. The lower flower scales are awnless. The straw of such wheat is usually hollow. Common wheat differs from dwarf wheat in having elongated, loose or compact, dorsoventrally flattened ears. A distinctive feature of durum wheat is the sharp ridges located along the entire length of the spikelet scales. In addition, it usually has spinous lower flower scales. The straw of durum wheat is usually not full.

Wheat varieties are also divided into spring and winter. Spring wheat is usually grown in regions with very harsh winters. It is sown in the spring. They are sown in the fall and harvested the following summer. This is the most common type, as it begins to develop earlier than spring wheat, ripens faster, and produces a higher yield.

Ecology

Wheat grows well in a wide range of climatic conditions, and is grown in almost all agricultural areas, except perhaps the tropics. Therefore, wheat cultivation is developed almost throughout the world. In terms of resistance to cold, it is inferior only to barley, potatoes and some forage grasses. Heat is also not a problem for wheat, unless it is combined with high humidity. In the latter case, the grains suffer from various diseases, which reduces the profitability of their cultivation.

Despite the fact that this crop can hardly grow everywhere, there are two main zones where wheat is grown especially productively. The first is between 30 and 55 degrees north latitude, and the second is between 25 and 40 degrees south latitude. The annual precipitation in these areas averages from 300 to 1100 mm. The optimal rainfall for a good harvest is 250-1000 mm per year. Wheat growth occurs in the temperature range from 3 to 32 degrees. Due to sowing too early, the seedlings may get sick, just as if sowing is too late (if we are talking about winter wheat).

Spring wheat is usually sown from March to May, depending on local weather conditions. The harvest begins when grain moisture drops to 13%. Spring wheat matures completely in approximately 100 frost-free days. If you remove it earlier, you will have to resort to drying. And later harvesting is fraught with loss of volume, as overripe grain begins to crumble to the ground.

Winter wheat is grown, among other things, for livestock feed. When the exits reach a length of 15-20 cm, grazing begins. If next year it is planned to harvest grain from the same field, then grazing is stopped at the stage of the plant transition to a tube. In some areas of America, wheat is sown together with winter legumes and cut into silage and hay before flowering.

Recycling

Wheat grain has a brownish shell, which, when ground, produces bran rich in protein, vitamins and cellulose. Under the shell there is an aleurone layer consisting of small granules. The germ at the base of the grain is rich in oils, proteins and minerals. Everything else is thin-layered endosperm cells, which are filled with starch grains and gluten, which gives the dough viscosity.

During milling - the operation of obtaining flour from wheat grains, the task arises of separating starch and gluten from other components of the grain. The fact is that because of the germ, the flour becomes sticky and quickly darkens, and because of the aleurone layer it takes on a brownish tint. As a result of flour cleaning, milling waste is formed - bran and fine grains (flour). They make up from 15 to 18% of the mass of refined grain.

Flour composition

Wheat, the photo of which is usually depicted on packets of flour, is a very valuable grain. It contains a large amount of vitamins (group B, choline, PP, E and H), as well as macro- and microelements (calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, iron, phosphorus, aluminum, titanium, chlorine, nickel, tin, molybdenum, chromium, boron, zinc, selenium and others). Thus, wheat, the benefits and harms of which will be discussed a little lower, contains almost all the minerals necessary for the functioning of the human body.

Flour varieties

Flour is classified by grade. Let's look at each of them.

Top grade. It has a white color and is used for the preparation of flour products. The latter obtain fine porosity and good volume. Flour is excellent for puff pastry, yeast and shortcrust pastry.

First grade. It can be either white or yellowish in color. It is well suited for making pancakes, rolls, pies and other baked goods. It is not recommended to use such flour for high-quality confectionery and bakery products.

Second grade. It has a yellowish or even grayish tint. It produces fluffy and porous baked goods. Second grade flour is used mainly for white bread and savory baked goods. The second grade of flour is most widely used in baking gingerbread and cookies.

Krupchatka. Light cream flour containing a high percentage of gluten. Used to make yeast dough containing a lot of sugar and fat. Suitable for baking.

Wallpaper. It has relatively large, heterogeneous particles. It has high moisture capacity and sugar-forming ability. It is used for baking mainly table varieties of bread.

Benefits and harms

We have already found out what wheat is. We also know what flour is. All that remains is to understand the beneficial and harmful properties of this very flour.

Flour helps speed up metabolism, stimulates brain function and estrogen production, protects the cardiovascular system, reduces the risk of gallstones, and also helps treat osteoporosis and Alzheimer's disease. Substances contained in flour soften inflammatory processes in the human body, prevent the formation of free radicals in it, and protect it from certain diseases. Flour helps in the treatment of bronchitis and asthma.

Wheat, the benefits of which are undeniable, also has some disadvantages. The main disadvantage of wheat flour is its calorie content. In addition, it can increase blood pressure and cause allergic reactions.

(Triticum), a genus of annual and biennial grasses of the grass family, one of the most important grain crops. The flour obtained from grains is used to bake white bread and produce other food products; Flour milling waste serves as feed for livestock and poultry, and has recently been increasingly used as a raw material for industry. Wheat is a leading grain crop in many regions of the world and a staple food in northern China, parts of India and Japan, many Middle Eastern and North African countries, and the southern plains of South America. The main wheat producer is China, the second largest is the USA; followed by India, Russia, France, Canada, Ukraine, Turkey and Kazakhstan. Wheat grain is the most important agricultural item of international trade: almost 60% of all grain exports. The world's leading exporter of wheat is the United States. Canada, France, Australia and Argentina also export a lot of wheat. The main importers of wheat are Russia, China, Japan, Egypt, Brazil, Poland, Italy, India, South Korea, Iraq and Morocco. There are thousands of varieties of wheat, and their classification is quite complex, but there are only two main types - hard and soft. Soft varieties are also divided into red-grain and white-grain. They are usually grown in regions with guaranteed moisture. Durum varieties are bred in areas with a drier climate, for example where the natural vegetation type is steppe. Western Europe and Australia produce mainly soft varieties, while the USA, Canada, Argentina, Western Asia, North Africa and the former USSR produce mainly hard varieties.
Properties and use. Soft and durum wheat varieties have much in common, but clearly differ in a number of characteristics that are important for the use of flour. Historians claim that the ancient Greeks and Romans, and possibly even earlier civilizations, knew the difference between the two types of wheat. In flour obtained from soft varieties, the starch grains are larger and softer, its consistency is thinner and more crumbly, it contains less gluten and absorbs less water. This flour is used for baking mainly confectionery products, not bread, since products made from it crumble and quickly become stale. In areas where soft varieties are grown, bread is baked from a mixture of it with flour obtained from imported hard varieties. In flour made from durum wheat, the starch grains are smaller and harder, its consistency is fine-grained, and there is relatively much gluten. Such flour, called “strong”, absorbs large quantities of water and is used primarily for baking bread, with the exception of that obtained from the T. durum species, which is used for making pasta. As the proportion of meat and other nongrain foods in people's diets increases, the amount of wheat and other grains they directly consume decreases. However, wheat is also widely used for livestock feed, and the nutritional value of the grain is almost independent of its milling qualities. Now in the USA, as a rule, whole grain is used for this, although previously, mainly grinding waste - bran, etc. - was used as feed additives. flour. This waste has been fed to farm animals since ancient times: if there is more cellulose - primarily to cattle and horses, if there is less - to pigs and poultry. Wheat bran is especially valued as an additive to the diet of pregnant cows and ewes. Previously, they were also given in large quantities to horses due to their known laxative properties. Pigs are suitable for fine bran, which includes the germ and the meal that adheres to it. They are most effective when used with slaughterhouse waste, fishmeal and dairy by-products as additives to corn and other grain feed. The use of milling waste in poultry farming, especially broiler farming, has recently begun to decline due to the growing popularity of low-fiber diets. Monosodium glutamate, a flavor enhancer that is widely used in soy sauces in Japan, was first obtained from wheat protein, but is now produced mainly from the same soybean. Until recently, applied research on wheat was mainly aimed at improving its nutritional properties. Laboratory experiments have shown that wheat gluten can be used to produce plastics, fibers and adhesives, but these products are fragile and water-soluble, so they have no commercial value. Recently, trends toward decreasing bread consumption in the United States have revived interest in unconventional uses of wheat. “Instant” dishes reminiscent of semolina porridge are obtained from specially processed flour, high-protein breakfast cereals are made from gluten, and wheat germ is recognized as very healthy in its raw form. Wheat starch is used to strengthen paper. It is usually extracted from grain, but sometimes from straw. The adhesive and viscous properties of wheat flour itself are used in industry. It serves as an additive to drilling fluids used in oil production and as a flocculating (floc-forming) agent when extracting gold from solution, improves the binding of the mineral part to the paper coating in gypsum cardboard, is a filler for waterproof adhesives in plywood, an impregnating composition, etc.
Biology. The wheat plant has a culm-stem, characteristic of all cereals, with nodes and usually hollow internodes, and the leaves are simple, linear, alternate, two-rowed. Each leaf extends from a node and consists of a sheath, covering the overlying internode like a split tube, and a long narrow plate. At the border between the vagina and the plate there are three outgrowths - a wide membranous tongue adjacent to the stem, and two finger-like ears covering the latter. The upper internode, or peduncle, bears the inflorescence - a complex spike. It consists of an geniculate central axis and successively small simple inflorescences - spikelets - extending from it, with the wide side facing the axis. Each spikelet bears on its axis from two to five successively outgoing flowers, the totality of which is covered from below by two - upper and lower - spikelet scales, which are the covering leaves of a simple inflorescence. Each flower is protected by a pair of specialized bracts - larger and thicker lower and relatively thin upper floral scales. For some, the so-called spinous wheat varieties, the lower flower scales end in a long awn. The flowers are usually bisexual, with three stamens and a pistil bearing two feathery stigmas. At the base of the ovary there are two or three small scales - floral films, or lodicules, equivalent to the perianth. By the time of flowering, they swell and push apart the scales surrounding the flower. Wheat is a mostly self-pollinating plant, although cross-pollination occurs in some types. After fertilization, the ovary turns into a small hard fruit, a caryopsis, held in the ear by flower scales. A caryopsis, or grain, is a pericarp formed from the wall of the ovary, inextricably linked to a single seed that contains the embryo and endosperm. The embryo is located on the side at the base of the grain and consists of a bud, a root and a modified cotyledon adjacent to the endosperm - the scutellum. After germination, the embryonic root will give rise to the primary root system, the bud will give rise to the above-ground organs of the plant and its “adult” roots, and the scutellum will secrete enzymes that digest the endosperm and conduct its nutrients to the seedling that has begun to develop. The sown grain of wheat absorbs water, swells and germinates. The bud and the embryonic root emerge and grow upward and downward, respectively. At the soil surface, from the first node of the straw formed from the bud, adventitious roots emerge, which vigorously branch and form the so-called. fibrous root system. The transition point between the stem and the root is called the root collar. Just above it, the lower nodes of the stem are closely brought together, and lateral shoots develop from the axils of their leaves near the surface of the soil - wheat tillering occurs. Until this stage, the plant is considered a seedling. Then the phase of exit into the tube begins, i.e. rapid elongation of the straw, followed by heading, i.e. inflorescence formation: the upper internode (peduncle) carries the spike 7-10 cm above the top leaf. When the grain has reached its final size, it contains an embryo and a watery, initially transparent, then becoming white endosperm as the starch content increases (the stage of so-called milk ripeness). Gradually, the moisture content of the grain decreases and its contents begin to resemble sticky dough in consistency (waxy ripeness). Fully ripened (technically ripe) grain is hard.

Main types. Only three types of wheat are of significant economic importance - summer, soft, or ordinary wheat (T. aestivum), durum wheat (T. durum) and dense-eared or dwarf wheat (T. compactum). The first is the common baking wheat grown throughout the world. The second grain is used for the production of pasta because it is rich in gluten - a mixture of proteins that form a sticky mass that not only binds the dough, but also retains carbon dioxide bubbles in it; the dough “rises” and the bread becomes fluffy. Dwarf wheat is mainly used to produce crumbly baked goods. Of lesser importance are spelled wheat (T. spelta), emmer, spelt, or emmer wheat (T. dicoccum), Polish wheat (T. polonicum) and English or fat wheat (T. turgidum). Summer wheat is the most widely grown wheat throughout the world. Its glumes are clearly combed only in the upper half, the lower glumes are awnless or shorter than 10 cm, the culm is usually hollow. It differs from dwarf by longer, more compact or loose, dorsoventrally flattened ears. In dwarf wheat they are short, dense and laterally compressed. Durum wheat is spring; it differs from summer and dwarf wheat by sharp ridges along the entire length of the glumes and usually spinous lower flower glumes with an awn 10-20 cm long. The straw is non-hollow. It differs from fat wheat only in longer glumes and grains, the latter of which are usually elliptical. In fat wheat, which is practically not grown in America, the grains are short, oval, with truncated tops, so they appear swollen and humpbacked; There are red and white grain varieties. Polish wheat stands out for its appearance. Its spike is large - 15-18 cm long and 2 cm or more wide. The glumes are long, thin, papery, and the grains often reach a length of 13 mm and are very hard. Varieties of this species, like durum wheat, are only spring varieties. Wheat varieties are divided into winter and spring. Winter wheat is sown in the fall and harvested the following summer. It is the most common wheat throughout the world. Starting to develop earlier than spring sown crops, they ripen faster and produce higher yields. Spring wheat, with the exception of T. durum, is grown in areas where winter is too harsh.

Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .

See what "WHEAT" is in other dictionaries:

Soft (Triticum aestivum ... Wikipedia

Women (arable, plow?) grain, spike plant Triticum; It is sown in our middle zone, and more in the southern zone, spring and in some places only winter. Russian wheat, gray; Egyptian, Said; girka, naked and red; nigella; Black Turk, or... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

A spike is a type of inflorescence of angiosperms. It has an elongated main axis and flowers planted on it. Depending on their number, a simple spike with single sessile flowers (orchid, plantain) is distinguished, and a complex spike with several (rye, barley, wheat).

Each type and variety of wheat has its own differences and features in the structure of the ear.

Wheat is the main representative of grain crops. It is an annual self-pollinating plant. Some types can be cross-pollinated.

Propagated by grains (seeds), they germinate with an average of 4 roots. When the first wheat leaves appear, the underground node begins to form a secondary root system. It can penetrate up to 1 m deep. The formation of lateral shoots begins before the nodal roots. During the tillering process, 1 - 5 shoots appear.

The stem is represented by a hollow straw, which is divided into internodes (5-7). They are held from below by the sheaths of the first leaf. Then they gradually diverge and transform into leaf plates at the top. They are smooth, freely arranged, 1-2 cm wide and 25-35 cm long. After tillering is completed, shoots grow due to the increase in internodes from bottom to top. This process is called stemming. As a result, the spike passes higher up the shoot and leaves the sheath of the last leaf. Heading begins.

General structure of the ear

The structure of a wheat ear is a cranked rod with several segments, in the mouths of which there are spikelets on both sides. They contain wide spikelet scales, and flowers are hidden inside them. The latter have two flower scales - outer (lower) and inner (upper). The lower one is the awn of wheat.

The segments are attached to each other like a spiral, as a result of which a platform is formed in their upper part. The space in each of them is filled by a spikelet.

Wheat spikelets are arranged strictly alternately: one to the left, the second to the right, etc. Therefore, two rows are formed on the side - the double-row side, and in front one spikelet rests on the second - the imbricated side.

A wheat spikelet has two outer glumes. Between them there are 2-4 flowers.

The number of spikelets in an ear and its length vary depending on the time of year, humidity, agrotechnical and territorial conditions.

The shape of a wheat ear is:

• fusiform (the middle is wide, tapering upward and slightly downward);
• prismatic (same width along the entire length);
• club-shaped (extension towards the apex).

Glume

One of the main characteristics distinguishing wheat varieties is the glume. It has two wide surfaces that are separated by a keel. The wider one faces outward and is used to judge the shape and size of the scales. To determine the variety, evaluate the middle part of the ear. In the upper and lower parts they change under the influence of the environment.

The color of winter wheat scales is red and white. When the air temperature is cold, the color of the ear becomes more pronounced; when the air temperature is warm, it turns pale.

By length they are distinguished:

• short 6-7 mm;
• average 8-9 mm;
• long 10-11 mm.

Width:

• narrow – 2 mm;
• average -3 mm;
• wide – 4 mm.

By form:

• oval (width is almost 2 times longer than length);
• ovoid (narrowed upward and widened below);
• lanceolate (narrow, elongated, tapering downwards and upwards, length 2 times greater than width).

The keel has a tooth and a shoulder, runs along the entire length or does not reach the base. It can be narrow, weakly defined, straight or curved.

The shoulder may be absent, sloping, straight or lumpy, and of varying widths.

The tooth differs in length between the awnless and spinous forms; in the former it is short and blunt, in the latter it is long and sharp.

Corn

The grain has an embryo, endosperm, aleurone layer, beard, fruit and seed coats. It is assessed by size, color, weight, ability to be stained with phenol, and glassiness.

Divided by size:

• fine up to 5 mm;
• average 6-7 mm;
• large 7 or more.

By form:

• oval-elongated;
• ovoid;
• oval;
• barrel-shaped.

By type of cross section:

• square;
• rectangular;
• round;
• oval.

Number of grains in an ear of wheat

On average, one spikelet contains 7 grains. This figure varies depending on environmental conditions. Most of the grains are deposited in the middle part of the ear. And at the top and at the base there are fewer of them. For example, at the base - 2, in the middle - 4, at the top - 2. Therefore, in one ear there are from 20-50 grains.

Species differences of wheat

There are signs by which different types of wheat are distinguished:

• ear pubescence;
• spinousness;
• awn color;
• ear color;
• grain color.

The wheat stalk is covered at the edges with thin and short hair. The longer one is at the base of the glume. This trait is important for testing varieties. Pubescence can be sparse and dense. The color of the straw located under the ear during the ripening period becomes dark purple. But this phenomenon is not present in all varieties. Some do not change color.

There is awned and awnless wheat.

The spinous form has a long, medium or short spine; they also come in:

• rough (hard);
• thin (delicate);
• intermediate (average).

The more moisture, the more tender the awns and vice versa. Rough ones are more brittle. According to their location, the awns are either parallel to the ear, or diverging from it at one angle or another. The awnless form has awn-like points.

The color of the awns is red, white and black. When the soil is moistened, the black color of the awn changes to gray-red, when dry, it becomes blacker.

The color of the ear is white, red, black and smoky gray. White color means straw yellow. Under red - all shades from pale tones to bright red. Gray-smoky is found as an addition to the white and red color of the ear. Black is found when grown in the south. In a damp, cool environment it is paler.

The grain is found in white, red and purple colors. White-grained varieties have a white, amber, glassy color. Red grains - pink, bright red, brown-red. The color of the grain is determined if their number is at least 1000.

Main types and varieties of wheat

There are two main types of wheat:

Winter wheat is the most common type of wheat in the world. Sowed in autumn. It begins to develop earlier than the spring variety, ripens faster and is much taller in growth. Selective to soil. Wheat crops are harvested next summer. Depending on the variety, the number of spikelets in winter wheat varies:

• Mironovskaya Anniversary – 23-25;
• Mironovskaya 808 – 15-17;
• Aurora 16-18.

The spring variety differs from the winter variety by a sharper crest of the glume and a long awn (10-20 cm) of the lower flower glume. It is whimsical to temperature conditions. Spikelets of the spring form can be: pale yellow, gray, pale brown. The color of the grain is yellow, pale yellow and pale red.

The two most common varieties of wheat in the world are:

• soft;
• hard.

They have a number of differences in the structure of the ear:

Thus, we can conclude that the wheat ear has a complex structure. Each of its components has its own characteristics, as well as species and varietal differences.

Wheat is the oldest grain crop

According to scientists, the most ancient crop is wheat. Each nation called this ancient plant in its own way, but most Slavs call it wheat. This word apparently comes from the words “pashnitsa” or “pashnitsa”, meaning an ear sown on arable land.

Wheat has played an important role in the human economy for many millennia. It is used for flour for baking bread, less often for the production of wheat and semolina. Pasta is prepared from durum wheat, and wheat bran, a valuable animal feed, is obtained from the waste generated during the processing of wheat grain. Wheat starch is produced from wheat. Wheat grain is fed in small quantities to livestock and poultry. Straw is used as bedding for livestock and in folk crafts.

More than 22 species of wheat are represented on our planet and each species has its own past and present (Fig. 1). Among this diversity, there are both cultural forms cultivated by humans and wild cereals. Each species has its own characteristic features and is distinguished by the structure of the ear or grain, the height and bushiness of the stems, resistance to lodging and drought, frost resistance and varying susceptibility to diseases and pests.

Fig.1. Ears of different types of wheat:
1 - soft awnless, 2 - soft awnless, 3 - dwarf awnless, 4 - dwarf awnless, 5 - spelled, 6 - mahi, 7 - hard, 8 - polish, 9 - branched, 10 - einkorn, 11 - einkorn.

Our ancestors sowed wheat near their homes and gradually, through selection, developed cultivated species of this grain plant. Charred seeds of the culture were found during excavations near the ancient city of Jericho - the same one whose impregnable walls, according to biblical legend, collapsed from the sound of a trumpet. In Egypt, wheat grains were found in the tombs of pharaohs dating back more than 5,000 years.

In Transcaucasia and some other areas, wild plants with bizarre ears of corn are found next to wild einkorn many centuries ago, and even now. These ancient plants, called aegilops, when crossed with einkorn, gave man the oldest wheat, which in ancient Rus' was called spelt. Who doesn’t remember the words from Pushkin’s fairy tale “About the priest and his worker Balda”:

I will serve you well,
Diligently and very efficiently,
In a year, for three clicks on your forehead.
Give me some boiled spelt.

Spelled, cultivated in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, witnessed the construction of the first pyramids and the construction of the stone sphinx. Today, this plant can be seen only in a number of regions of Iran, Afghanistan, Spain and some other countries.

Already two or three millennia BC. e. wheat was cultivated in many countries, from the foggy shores of Britain to China. But if wheat has been known in the Old World for more than 6-8 thousand years, then America and Australia became acquainted with this ancient crop only 200-300 years ago. Only Columbus's voyage opened up valuable culture to the New World. The pioneers of the development of uncharted lands are the first farmers of America and Canada. Among the first wheats brought with them by the colonists were the Russian early-ripening varieties Ladoga and Onega.

Russian wheat became the basis for many valuable varieties created far from Russia. In 1865, a large shipment of ancient winter wheat was sent from Odessa to North America. US breeders, using these seeds, created varieties such as “Minhards”, “Minturks”, and others. In the 19th century Spring wheat seeds were brought to France from Russia, which served as the basis for breeder Plante to develop the world-famous Noe variety.

Today, two types of this main crop are grown in the world: soft and durum wheat. It is cultivated everywhere and is one of the most common cereals. Soft wheat is sown in the temperate zone of European countries, Asia and North America, as well as in the southern regions. Durum wheat is a more heat-loving plant and is cultivated mainly in hot climates, such as the Mediterranean. Durum wheat occupies steppes and forest-steppes in our country, steppe and semi-desert areas in Australia, and prairies in North America. Most types of wheat were found in the Transcaucasus: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. This cereal is an annual plant that is cultivated in Europe up to 68° N. sh., as well as at an altitude of 2 thousand m in the Alps and 3400 m in the Himalayas. If earlier, in the 50s, the average harvest worldwide was less than 10 centners, then currently the wheat harvest is more than 15 centners of grain per 1 hectare.

Wheat varieties created in our country as a result of the hard work of scientists enjoy well-deserved fame in Europe, America and other countries. The names of famous breeders, academicians Pyotr Panteleimonovich Lukyanenko and Vasily Nikolaevich Remeslo, Donat Aleksandrovich Dolgushin and Fyodor Grigorievich Kirichenko are associated with the successes of our scientists in creating outstanding varieties of wheat. Bezostaya-l and Mironovskaya-808, Odesskaya-51 and Kavkaz, Aurora and Mironovskaya Jubilee are masterpieces of domestic selection, possessing such advantages as high yield and drought resistance, high baking qualities and responsiveness to fertilization. Up to 70 c/ha is given to a person by wheat-breadwinners with a high level of agricultural technology and good climatic conditions.

Saratov breeders are famous for their varieties of spring wheat. The plants they created with valuable economic traits are sown in various regions of our country. Scientists and breeders work hard to create varieties of soft and durum wheat that produce high yields and are resistant to various unfavorable environmental factors.

There are thousands of varieties of wheat in the fields of the planet, but their yield largely depends on how a person can protect the plant from various diseases: rust and smut, root rot and fusarium, powdery mildew and bacteriosis, as well as viral infections.

According to a number of scientists, wheat yield losses from rust fungi in Europe alone are: yellow rust - 46%, stem rust - 35%, leaf rust - 18%.

One of the important conditions for the successful implementation of the Food Program in our country is to increase the potential yield of winter and spring wheat varieties. To increase the yield of this ancient crop, breeders and phytopathologists, plant protection specialists and agronomists will have to use the entire arsenal of means to protect the wheat field from an army of phytopathogens and pests.