Wheat is one of most primitive types of…

Wheat is one of most primitive types of food in the world. Its discovery contributed to the development of Homo-sapiens from hunters to farmers. Civilization arose where soil was fertile and wheat could be produced. The Stone Age farmers in the Middle East 9000 years ago were perhaps the first to cultivate cereal grams, such as wheat and barley. They also developed bread wheat from a cross of wild wheat and grasses. Studies on Neolithic women in Syria highlight damage to their toes, knees and vertebrate as they had to spend long hours kneeling before saddle-shaped stones to crush grains. The finding that grain could be grounded to make a powder called a meal must have been fantastic because raw wheat is distasteful. This powder called meal was used to make porridge or gruel until baking was discovered. The baked flour was more enjoyable and tasty. Sieve or baskets were made using horse hair or papyrus to separate the ground meal into coarse bran particles and white flour. Later ancient Romans crushed the grain and sifted the flour through linen, twice. This was an expensive procedure that only the aristocracy could afford. The white flour obtained was called “pollen” meaning a fine powder. The Romans were the pioneers in the birth of the milling industry using animals or slaves to drive the wheels to grind wheat. It was only in the 11th century that water and wind mills appeared to grind the wheat.