Wheat

Wheat, a member of the grass family that includes barley and rye, evolved from wild einkorn (Triticum monococcum), which likely originated in Armenia, Georgia, and Turkey. Prior to the Neolithic revolution, women gathered, ground, and cooked the heads of this and other grains. Wild einkorn crossed spontaneously with goat weed (Aegilops speltoides) to produce wild emmer (T. dococcoides), which grows wild in the region stretching from northern Israel and Lebanon to western Iran.

Most wild wheat types have fourteen chromosomes; the exception is wild emmer, which has twenty-eight chromosomes. Domesticated emmer (T. dicoccum), the oldest cultivated wheat, has been found in Turkey dating to 8700 BCE. Wheat was widely cultivated in prehistoric times, reaching North Africa and the Indus valley in northern India by 4000 BCE, northern China by 3000 BCE, and western Europe by 2000 BCE. Most likely, wheat was initially consumed in porridges, which, if left to dry, could be baked on a flat rock near a fire. The descendants of this early use of wheat include flatbreads, such as pita from the Mediterranean and chapati from India. In China wheat was mainly used to make noodles. These foods have been introduced into the United States by immigrant groups and became popular during the second half of the twentieth century.