Wheat, any of several species of cereal grasses of the genus Triticum (family Poaceae) and their

edible grains. Wheat is one of the oldest and most important of the cereal crops. Of the thousands
of varieties known, the most important are common wheat (Triticum aestivum), used to make bread;
durum wheat (T. durum), used in making pasta (alimentary pastes) such as spaghetti and macaroni;
and club wheat (T. compactum), a softer type, used for cake, crackers, cookies, pastries, and flours.
Additionally, some wheat is used by industry for the production of starch, paste, malt, dextrose,
gluten, alcohol, and other products.

The wheat plant has long slender leaves and stems that are hollow in most varieties. The
inflorescences are composed of varying numbers of minute flowers, ranging from 20 to 100. The
flowers are borne in groups of two to six in structures known as spikelets, which later serve to house
the subsequent two or three grains produced by the flowers. Though grown under a wide range of
climates and soils, wheat is best adapted to temperate regions with rainfall between 30 and 90 cm
(12 and 36 inches). Winter and spring wheat are the two major types of the crop, with the severity of
the winter determining whether a winter or spring type is cultivated. Winter wheat is always sown in
the fall; spring wheat is generally sown in the spring but can be sown in the fall where winters are
mild.

The nutritional composition of the wheat grain varies somewhat with differences in climate and soil.
On an average, the kernel contains 12 percent water, 70 percent carbohydrates, 12 percent protein,
2 percent fat, 1.8 percent minerals, and 2.2 percent crude fibres. Thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and
small amounts of vitamin A are present, but the milling processes removes most of those nutrients
with the bran and germ.

Most wheat used for food requires processing. The grain is cleaned and then conditioned by
the addition of water so that the kernel breaks up properly. In milling, the grain is cracked
and then passed through a series of rollers. As the smaller particles are sifted out, the coarser
particles pass to other rollers for further reduction. About 72 percent of the milled grain is
recovered as white flour. Flour made from the whole kernel is called graham flour and
becomes rancid with prolonged storage because of the germ-oil content retained. White flour,
which does not contain the germ, preserves longer. Inferior and surplus wheats and various
milling by-products are used for livestock feeds.

The greatest portion of the wheat flour produced is used for breadmaking. Wheats grown in
dry climates are generally hard types, having protein content of 11–15 percent and strong
gluten (elastic protein). The hard type produces flour best suited for breadmaking. The
wheats of humid areas are softer, with protein content of about 8–10 percent and weak gluten.
The softer type of wheat produces flour suitable for cakes, crackers, cookies, and pastries and
household flours. Durum wheat semolina (from the endosperm) is used for making pastas, or
alimentary pastes.

Sorghum, (Sorghum bicolor), also called great millet, Indian millet, milo, durra, orshallu, cereal
grain plant of the grass family (Poaceae) and its edible starchy seeds. The plant likely originated in
Africa, where it is a major food crop, and has numerous varieties, including grain sorghums, used for
food; grass sorghums, grown for hay and fodder; and broomcorn, used in making brooms and
brushes. In India sorghum is known as jowar, cholam, or jonna, in West Africa as Guinea corn, and in
China as kaoliang. Sorghum is especially valued in hot and arid regions for its resistance to drought
and heat.

Sorghum is a strong grass and usually grows to a height of 0.6 to 2.4 metres (2 to 8 feet), sometimes
reaching as high as 4.6 metres (15 feet). Stalks and leaves are coated with a white wax, and the pith,
or central portion, of the stalks of certain varieties is juicy and sweet. The leaves are about 5 cm (2
inches) broad and 76 cm (2.5 feet) long. The tiny flowers are produced in panicles that range from
loose to dense; each flower cluster bears 800–3,000 kernels. The seeds vary widely among different
types in colour, shape, and size, but they are smaller than those of wheat.

Sorghum is of a lower feed quality than corn (maize). It is high in carbohydrates, with 10 percent
protein and 3.4 percent fat, and contains calcium and small amounts of iron, vitamin B1, and niacin.
For human consumption, the gluten-free grain is usually ground into a meal that is made into
porridge, flatbreads, and cakes. The characteristic strong flavour can be reduced by processing. The
grain is also used in making edible oil, starch, dextrose (a sugar), paste, and alcoholic beverages. The
stalks are used as fodder and building materials. Sweet sorghums, or sorgos, are grown mainly in the
United States and southern Africa for forage and for syrup manufacture and are sometimes used in
the production of ethyl alcohol for biofuel.

Quaker Oats Company, former (1901–2001) Chicago-based American manufacturer of

The Quaker Oats trademark was registered in 1877 by Henry Parsons Crowell (1855–1944),
an Ohio milling company owner who in 1891 joined with two other millers, Robert Stuart
and Ferdinand Schumacher, in creating the American Cereal Company. By the late 1890s a
management conflict had broken out between the three men. At first Schumacher forced out
Stuart and Crowell, but they returned in a share and proxy war, ejected Schumacher, and in
1901 converted American Cereal into the Quaker Oats Company. By this time Quaker was
producing oat and wheat cereals, hominy, corn meal, baby food, and animal feed. Crowell,
president until 1922, was succeeded by Stuart’s son John, who presided for 34 years, working
with his younger brother R. Douglas Stuart, a promotional genius.

By the late 20th century the company had added hundreds of food products (e.g., Cap’n
Crunch breakfast cereal and Aunt Jemima syrup, mixes, and frozen waffles and pancakes).
Following the corporate trend of the 1960s and ’70s, the company diversified into chemical
products, restaurant chains, and the toy industry, acquiring the toy company Fisher-Price in
1969. Most of these assets were sold by the early 1990s, however, as Quaker refocused on its
food products, which came to include snack products and additional breakfast cereals. It
moved into the beverage market through the acquisition of Stokley–Van Camp, the maker of
Gatorade sport drink, in 1983 and of Snapple, a bottler of iced teas and fruit drinks, in 1994.
Although lagging sales caused Quaker to sell the Snapple business in 1997, the company
continued to expand the Gatorade brand by introducing nutritional drinks and snacks.

In 1997 Quaker agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that in the
1940s and ’50s company researchers had secretly exposed institutionalized children in
Massachussetts to oatmeal containing radioactive iron and calcium in order to obtain
scientific evidence that would allow the company to match the advertising claims of rival
brand Cream of Wheat. The events surrounding the controversy were documented in the book
The State Boys Rebellion (2004) by Michael D’Antonio.

Oats, (Avena sativa), domesticated cereal grass (family Poaceae) grown primarily for its edible
starchy grains. Oats are widely cultivated in the temperate regions of the world and are second only
to rye in their ability to survive in poor soils. Although oats are used chiefly as livestock feed, some
are processed for human consumption, especially as breakfast foods. The plants provide good hay
and, under proper conditions, furnish excellent grazing and make good silage (stalk feed preserved
by fermentation).

Oats are annual plants and often reach 1.5 metres (5 feet) in height. The long leaves have rounded
sheaths at the base and a membranous ligule (small appendage where the leaf joins the stem). The
flowering and fruiting structure, or inflorescence, of the plant is made up of numerous branches
bearing florets that produce the caryopsis, or one-seeded fruit. Common oats are grown in cool
temperate regions; red oats, more heat tolerant, are grown mainly in warmer climates. With
sufficient moisture, the crop will grow on soils that are sandy, low in fertility, or highly acidic. The
plants are relatively free from diseases and pests, though they are susceptible to rust and
anthracnose on their stems and leaves.

Rolled oats, flattened kernels with the hulls removed, are used mostly for oatmeal; other breakfast
foods are made from the groats, which are unflattened kernels with husks removed. Oat flour is not
generally considered suitable for bread but is used to make cookies and puddings. The grains are
high in carbohydrates and contain about 13 percent protein and 7.5 percent fat. They are a source of
calcium, iron, vitamin B1, and niacin.

As a livestock feed, the grain is used both in pure form and in mixtures, though the demand for oats
has been somewhat reduced by competition from hybrid corn (maize) and alfalfa. The straw is used
for animal feed and bedding. In industry oat hulls are a source of furfural, a chemical used in various
types of solvents.

Legume, also called pod, fruit of plants in the pea family (Fabaceae). Most legumes are dehiscent
fruits that release their seeds by splitting open along two seams, though some, such as peanuts
(Arachis hypogaea) and carobs (Ceratonia siliqua), do not naturally open. The fruits come in a variety
of sizes and shapes; many, however, are long and narrow and bear their seeds in a single line. The
largest legumes are borne by the monkey ladder (Entada gigas) and can reach up to 2 metres (6.6
feet) in length. At maturity, legume fruits are usually dry and papery or hard and woody; the
legumes of certain food crops, such as snow peas (variety of Pisum sativum), edamame (Glycine
max), and green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), are harvested while still green and fleshy.
Legumes furnish food for humans and animals and provide edible oils, fibres, and raw material for
plastics. Many are grown for their edible seeds, which are high in protein and contain many of the
essential amino acids. For important members of the legume family, see bean; chickpea; cowpea;
lentil; pea; peanut; soybean; and tamarind

rrowroot, any of several species of the genus Maranta, members of the family Marantaceae,
the rhizomes, or rootstocks, of which yield an edible starch. The most commonly used
species is M. arundinacea, the source of genuine, or West Indies, arrowroot. This herbaceous
perennial, a native of Guyana and western Brazil, is cultivated throughout the West Indies,
Southeast Asia, Australia, and South Africa. Its creeping rootstock has fleshy tubers
(underground storage organs), and its many-branched stem, reaching a height of 1.5 metres (5
feet), bears numerous leaves, having long narrow sheaths and large spreading ovate blades,
and a few short-stalked white flowers. Plants are harvested when the tubers are gorged with
starch, just before the plant’s dormant season. The roots are peeled and then grated in water.
The resulting mixture is dried to a powder and purified by several washings.

Arrowroot starch supplies no vitamins and contains only 0.2 percent protein. In cookery, it is
used as a thickener in soups, sauces, puddings, and desserts. When boiled in water, it yields a
transparent, odourless, pleasant-tasting jelly. Its fine texture allows cooking at lower
temperatures and for shorter periods than other starches, making it especially suitable for
such egg preparations as custards, which are adversely affected by overcooking. Arrowroot is
easily digested and is used in diets requiring bland, low-salt, and low-protein foods.

The name arrowroot is sometimes applied to starches obtained from other plants and used as
substitutes for true arrowroot. Tous-les-mois, or tulema arrowroot (Canna coccinea), is
another West Indies plant and produces a larger-grained product. East India arrowroot is a
product of several species of the genus Curcuma, of the family Zingiberaceae, chiefly C.
angustifolia, native to central India. Brazilian arrowroot, from the cassava plant (Manihot
esculenta), is the source of tapioca. Tacca, or Otaheite arrowroot, comes from the pia plant
(Tacca pinnatifida) of the South Pacific islands. Portland arrowroot, once manufactured in
Portland, Dorset, England, is derived from tubers of the common cuckoopint (Arum
maculatum), and other Arum species are important food starch sources in hot countries.
Potato farina, sometimes marketed as British arrowroot, has been used to adulterate more
costly preparations.

Tapioca, a preparation of cassava root starch used as a food, in bread or as a thickening agent
in liquid foods, notably puddings but also soups and juicy pies.

In processing, heat ruptures the starch grains, converting them to small irregular masses that
are further baked into flake tapioca. A pellet form, known as pearl tapioca, is made by forcing
the moist starch through sieves. Granulated tapioca, marketed in various-sized grains and
sometimes called “manioca,” is produced by grinding flake tapioca. When cooked, tapioca
swells into a pale, translucent jelly.

The cassava plant, or manioc, is native to the West Indies and to South America, where its
roots are ground into meal and then baked into thin cakes. Tapioca became a common Asian
food after the cassava was introduced into that part of the world during the 19th century. In
Thailand a pudding is made of tapioca and coconut, and tapioca paste is rolled into balls and
dried to be eaten as cereal. The Vietnamese make a kind of thin pancake using tapioca starch.
Beverages with tapioca are popular in many parts of Asia.