Weizenkörner (Weizen, roh, bio?)

Querschnittliche Laboranalyse an menschlichem Gewebe

DOI: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2012.12.005

Study: weak evidence

Wheat has two textural classes: soft and hard. The two classes of wheat are used for different purposes as hard wheat is mainly used for making bread and pasta, while soft wheat is utilized for making biscuits and cakes.

Narrativer Review in wissenschaftlichem Journal

DOI: 10.3390/nu15204398

Study: weak evidence

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Chronic metabolic diseases have been recognized as worldwide problems of human health, and the non-negligible causes of the global burden of disease (GBD) as well. Medical services are required to keep improving, resulting in increased public health costs, which can be alleviated by adding whole grains to the diet. Compared with refined grains, whole grains retain more beneficial ingredients including dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, which show effective functions for health. Evidence from epidemiologic data has suggested that whole grain intake is associated with reducing risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease (CVD), type II diabetes cancer and other chronic diseases, based on the function of diet fiber, resistance starch (RS) and other bioactive components. Grains are promoted in 90 countries around the world with clear dietary guidelines, with 44% of countries specifically encouraging whole grains.

Narrativer Review in wissenschaftlichem Journal

DOI: 10.3390/foods11244094

Study: weak evidence

The health benefits of whole wheat consumption can be partially attributedto wheat’s phytochemicals, including phenolic acids, flavonoids, alkylresorci-nols, carotenoids, phytosterols, tocopherols, and tocotrienols. It is of increas-ing interest to produce whole wheat products that are rich in bioactive phyto-chemicals. This review provides the fundamentals of the chemistry, extraction,and occurrence of wheat phytochemicals and includes critical discussion of sev-eral long-lasting issues: (1) the commonly used nomenclature on distribution ofwheat phenolic acids, namely, soluble-free, soluble-conjugated, and insoluble-bound phenolic acids; (2) different extraction protocols for wheat phytochemi-cals; and (3) the chemistry and application of in vitro antioxidant assays. Thisreview further discusses recent advances on the effects of genotypes, environ-ments, field management, and processing techniques including ultrafine grind-ing, germination, fermentation, enzymatic treatments, thermal treatments, andfood processing. These results need to be interpreted with care due to varied sam-ple preparation protocols and limitations of in vitro assays. The bioaccessibility,bioavailability, metabolism, and potential health benefits of wheat phytochem-icals are also reviewed. This comprehensive and critical review will benefit sci-entific researchers in the field of bioactive compounds of cereal grains and alsothose in the cereal food industry to produce high-quality functional foods.

Narrativer Review in wissenschaftlichem Journal

DOI: 10.1111/1541-4337.12960

Study: weak evidence

Wheat is the most important staple crop in temperate zones and is in increasing demand in countries undergoing urbanization and industrialization. In addition to being a major source of starch and energy, wheat also provides substantial amounts of a number of components which are essential or beneficial for health, notably protein, vitamins (notably B vitamins), dietary fiber, and phytochemicals. Of these, wheat is a particularly important source of dietary fiber, with bread alone providing 20% of the daily intake in the UK, and well-established relationships between the consumption of cereal dietary fiber and reduced risk of cardio-vascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and forms of cancer (notably colo-rectal cancer). Wheat shows high variability in the contents and compositions of beneficial components, with some (including dietary fiber) showing high heritability. Hence, plant breeders should be able to select for enhanced health benefits in addition to increased crop yield.

Narrativer Review in wissenschaftlichem Journal

DOI: 10.1002/fes3.64

Study: weak evidence

Phytic acid has been reported to impair the absorption of minerals and trace elements such as calcium, zinc, and iron in humans. However, limited information is available on the effect of phytic acid on magnesium absorption. Objective: The objective was to evaluate the effect of phytic acid on fractional apparent magnesium absorption in humans. Two stable-isotope studies were performed with 8–9 healthy adults per study. Test meals were based on 200 g phytic acid–free wheat bread; test meals with and without added phytic acid were served on days 1 and 3 according to a crossover design. Phytic acid was added in amounts similar to those naturally present in whole-meal (1.49 mmol) and in brown bread (0.75 mmol). Each test meal was labeled with 0.7 mmol 25Mg or 1.1 mmol 26Mg. The total magnesium content was standardized to 3.6 mmol in all test meals. Apparent magnesium absorption was based on fecal monitoring. The addition of phytic acid lowered fractional apparent magnesium absorption from 32.5
6.9% (no added phytic acid) to 13.0
6.9% (1.49 mmol added phytic acid; P 0.0005) and from 32.2
12.0% (no added phytic acid) to 24.0
12.9% (0.75 mmol added phytic acid;P 0.01). The inhibiting effect of phytic acid was dose dependent (P 0.005). The results show that fractional magnesium absorption from white-wheat bread is significantly impaired by the addition of phytic acid, in a dose-dependent manner, at amounts similar to those naturally present in whole-meal and brown bread. Am J Clin Nutr 2004;79:418–23.

Human-Interventionsstudie in wissenschaftlichem Journal

DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/79.3.418

Study: strong evidence

During 4 618 796 person years of follow-up, 18 629 participants with type 2 diabetes were identified. Total whole grain consumption was categorized into five equal groups of servings a day for the three cohorts. After adjusting for lifestyle and dietary risk factors for diabetes, participants in the highest category for total whole grain consumption had a 29% (95% confidence interval 26% to 33%) lower rate of type 2 diabetes compared with those in the lowest category. For individual whole grain foods, pooled hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for type 2 diabetes in participants consuming one or more servings a day compared with those consuming less than one serving a month were 0.81 (0.77 to 0.86) for whole grain cold breakfast cereal, 0.79 (0.75 to 0.83) for dark bread, and 1.08 (1.00 to 1.17) for popcorn. For other individual whole grains with lower average intake levels, comparing consumption of two or more servings a week with less than one serving a month, the pooled hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) were 0.79 (0.75 to 0.83) for oatmeal, 0.88 (0.82 to 0.94) for brown rice, 0.85 (0.80 to 0.90) for added bran, and 0.88 (0.78 to 0.98) for wheat germ. Spline regression showed a non-linear dose-response association between total whole grain intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes where the rate reduction slightly plateaued at more than two servings a day (P<0.001 for curvature). For whole grain cold breakfast cereal and dark bread, the rate reduction plateaued at about 0.5 servings a day. For consumption of popcorn, a J shaped association was found where the rate of type 2 diabetes was not significantly raised until consumption exceeded about one serving a day. The association between higher total whole grain intake and lower risk of type 2 diabetes was stronger in individuals who were lean than in those who were overweight or obese (P=0.003 for interaction), and the associations did not vary significantly across levels of physical activity, family history of diabetes, or smoking status.

Prospektive Kohortenstudie in wissenschaftlichem Journal

DOI: 10.1136/bmj.m2206

Study: strong evidence

Wheat grain allergens Wheat grain proteins are involved in the three routes of sensitization: inhalation, contact and ingestion (16). Depending on the route of allergen exposure and the underlying immunologic mechanisms, wheat grain allergy can appear as occupational asthma and rhinitis, contact urticaria or classic food allergy affecting the skin, gut, and/or respiratory tract, or as exercise-induced anaphylaxis (17-22). Baker’s asthma is one of the most common forms of occupational asthma. Baker’s asthma is an occupational disease affecting 4-10% of bakery workers in European countries (23). Food allergy, defined as adverse immune response to food proteins, affects as many as 6% of young children and 3% to 4% of adults (24). Any protein-containing food may induce an allergic reaction. Wheat is among the six foods, identified by Codex Alimentarius, responsible for approximately 90% of food allergies in children, and in recent years has been increasingly recognized as a cause of food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (FDEIA) (21). Wheat allergens have been involved in 6% of life-threatening food anaphylaxis between 2002 and 2004 (25) in France, in which exercise could have been an aggravating factor. However, no fatal cases of exercise-induced wheat-related anaphylaxis has been reported to date, despite the frequency of allergy to wheat (25). In Iran, wheat is reported as the most frequent causes of anaphylaxis for children (26). Wheat allergy appears more frequently in Northern (27) than in Southern Europe. In France, wheat ranks as the 8th most frequent food allergen in children and as the 12th in adults (28). It represents 20% of the food allergy clinical pediatric population in the study of Sicherer (29) and 14% in the study of Niggemann (30). In the study of Moneret-Vautrin et al, it represents 10.9% of children and 25% of adults (20). In the cohort of the Isle of Wight on six-year-old children, wheat was the third key allergen giving positive food challenges (31). In contrast, in an American study on food allergy in children, wheatrelated food allergy was present in only 2.5% of the cases (32, 33). These numbers could be underestimated because they represent only the most severe cases where hospital care was necessary. Clinical manifestations of wheat allergy are similar to those of other food allergies, with symptoms at the level of the skin, the gastrointestinal tract and the respiratory tract (17). Clinical patterns in children and adults are different. The main symptoms in children are atopic dermatitis (AD), either alone or associated with respiratory symptoms and digestive problems (27, 34-38). In adults, various clinical features have been identified including FDEIA, anaphylactic shock, angiooedema, irritable bowel syndrome, eosinophilic oesophagitis, rare cases of ulcerative colitis or buccal aphtosis (22, 39-48). Wheat may be introduced very early in the diet, around the fifth month after birth. Moreover, sensitization might occur much earlier through maternal milk, in which the presence of non-degraded gliadins have been reported in breast-feeding mothers not following a specific diet (49, 50). On the contrary, Poole et al. (51), observed that delaying initial exposure to cereal grains until after 6 months may increase the risk of developing wheat allergy. Wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (WDEIA) was mostly observed in adults, and sometimes in children (48, 52, 53). The diagnosis, however, is difficult, as well as the exercise level necessary to induce the symptoms, and the wheat quantities are very variable (53-55).

Narratives Review

Study: weak evidence

Book: moderate evidence

Just as the four seasons are graded as cold, hot, warm and cool, the properties of food and medicine also vary from one to another, including refreshing, light, pungent and mild tonic. Accordingly, either food therapy or medical diet therapy should be adjusted in different seasons so as to comply with the natural laws of climate changes. Human's activities should be in accordance with the following rule: “sow in spring; grow in summer; harvest in autumn; store in winter”. As per recommendations in Principles of Correct Diet, written by imperial physician Hu Sihui of Yuan Dynasty, “warm in spring, suitable for eating wheat to cool; hot in summer, suitable for eating mung beans to chill; dry in autumn, suitable for eating sesame to nourish dryness; cold in winter, suitable for eating broomcorn millet to dispel cold.

Expertenmeinung

DOI: 10.1016/j.yclnex.2018.01.001

Study: weak evidence

Book: weak evidence

This review is a collection of information on bioactive compounds found in the grain of different Triticum species, both old and modern. The whole wheat grain, as well as its parts, e.g., bran, contains compounds, such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, alkylresorcinols, benzoxazinoids, tocopherols, carotenoids, and others. These compounds differ in both their chemical structure and biological properties. There are significant differences in the content and composition of these compounds between Triticum species. Apart from the wheat species, there are many other factors influencing these differences, e.g., cultivars, environmental factors, growth conditions, and farming systems. The Triticum species the best researched and described in terms of the content of bioactive compounds are Triticum aestivum L., T. durum Desf., T. spelta L., T. turgidum L., T. monococcum L., T. dicoccum Schrank, T. timopheevii, and T. polonicum L.

DOI: 10.3390/molecules31040667

Study: weak evidence

Live footprint: 0,61 kg CO₂e/kg.

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Book: weak evidence

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Wheat is a high-yielding crop that is easy to store and is very adaptable to different climates. From the most primitive form of wheat to the species currently grown, these and other desirable characteristics have been selected and developed by human societies since ancient times [1,2]. Its domestication is thought to have occurred in the Fertile Crescent about 10,000 years ago and has spread to all parts of the world through the first farmers, adapting the domesticated populations to different environments [3]. Wheat is able to grow in temperate, Mediterranean, and subtropical regions of the two hemispheres, mainly due to its enormous genetic diversity.

Despite modern wheat varieties (durum wheat and common wheat) having a higher yield potential, they have disadvantages compared to old varieties, particularly in terms of reduced tolerance of abiotic and biotic stresses, such as diseases, pests, drought, heat, cold, salinity, pollution, and shortage of soil nutrients. Nowadays, about 95% of the wheat grown in the world is common wheat, used mainly as whole flour and refined flour to produce a wide variety of flat and fermented breads and for the manufacture of a wide variety of other bakery products. The remaining 5% is mostly durum wheat used to produce semolina (coarse flour), the main raw material for the manufacture of a wide variety of different baking product. 

The history of wheat from about 10,000 B.C. is an important part of the history of agriculture [2]. Wheat is thought to have first been cultivated in the Fertile Crescent, an area in the Middle East spreading from Jordan, Palestine, and Lebanon to Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran [14]. The earliest cultivated species are hulled (glumed) wheats and comprise all three polyploidy levels known in Triticum spp., diploid, tetraploid, and hexaploid [14]. These species are einkorn (Triticum monococcum L.), emmer (Triticum Dicoccum), and spelt (Triticum spelta), and their corresponding wild ancestors are still found in these territories [15,16]. However, the domestication of these three species caused considerable genetic erosion that has since been reinforced through modern breeding practices with the unwanted consequence of increased susceptibility or vulnerability to environmental stresses, pests, and diseases [8].

Wheat belongs to the Poaceae family [17,18], which includes the Triticeae tribe, the division with the most economically important cereals. The Triticeae tribe includes 14 genera, grouped into the subtribes Triticinae and Hordeinae, and the production of amphiploids and interspecific hybrids suggests there is genetic or cytoplasmic compatibility between the different genera [19]. The most representative wheat species of this tribe are hexaploid Triticum aestivum L. (AuAuBBDD; 2n = 6x = 42), tetraploid Triticum turgidum L. (AuAuBB; 2n = 4x = 28), and diploid einkorn Triticum monococcum L. (AmAm; 2n = 2x = 14) [8]. Currently, the most economically important species are tetraploid durum wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum (AuAuBB; 2n = 4x = 28) and hexaploidy bread wheat.

Narratives Review

DOI: 10.3390/foods10092124

Study: weak evidence

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Wheat is one of the most widely used raw materials worldwide. This product is used both for human food (wheat flour) and animal feed (wheat bran). It is one of the three most-produced kinds of cereal in the world, together with corn and rice. Cereals are one of the main sources of energy and nutrients for animal and human food and have been used historically for centuries. Among the cereals, wheat is one of the most important worldwide, from which the main product called flour and by-products called bran and germ are obtained. Wheat flour is mainly used in human food in bakery processes. On the other hand, wheat bran is a product intended for animal feed due to its high content of amino acids and a high percentage of protein superior to other existing cereals. This wheat bran (technically called pericarp) consists mainly of the external parts of the wheat grain after processing. Wheat is one of the cereals with the highest protein content available for animal feed, being higher than corn. In addition, it has a high energy value with 3.0 to 3.5 Mcal ME (Megacalories of Metabolizable Energy), which constitutes an important energy source in animal feed.  Starch, which is a digestible polysaccharide, is the most abundant carbohydrate in wheat. On the other hand, wheat has a large amount of fiber, which facilitates the digestive processes in ruminants.

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Umwelt- und Ressourcenanalyse

DOI: 10.5194/hess-15-1577-2011

Food production has been reported as one of the principal causes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, contributing significantly to climate change (Feng et al., 2023a). Moreover, crop cultivation and food production impact other environmental categories, such as ecotoxicity, freshwater use, eutrophication, and acidification (Rafiee et al., 2024). Considering the growth of global population, which may reach 10.2 billion by the end of the century (United Nations, 2024), there is a necessity to mitigate the environmental impact of products and make food production more sustainable. Understanding where and how environmental impacts occur throughout specific food supply chains is crucial for farmers, agri-food industry, and consumers to share responsibility in mitigating these effects (Poore and Nemecek, 2018).
Among the most consumed foods worldwide, grains provide, on average, a third of human dietary calories (Ibrahim et al., 2024). Grain production utilises a significant proportion of global natural resources, including 36% of productive land, 34% of freshwater, and 45% of total fertilisers used in agriculture, emitting, for example, around 36% of total GHGs from crop cultivation (Milani et al., 2024). Wheat is the second most produced grain in the world (784.91 million metric tons), after maize (1235.71 million metric tons), in the 2023/24 harvest (Statistica, 2024). Its derivatives, such as wheat flour, also have a significant impact on the global food chain (Câmara-Salim et al., 2020).
Given the urgency to mitigate the damage caused by human consumption, life cycle assessment (LCA), standardised by ISO 14040 (ISO - International Organization for Standardization, 2006a) and ISO 14044 (ISO - International Organization for Standardization, 2006b), has been used as a tool to estimate and identify the critical points of major environmental impacts caused by the production of goods and services (Feng et al., 2023a). LCA thus becomes a tool for reflection and decision-making on strategies to ensure sustainable production, including food production (Riedesel et al., 2022). The environmental footprint managed by ISO 14067 (ISO - International Organization for Standardization, 2018), for the Global Warming Potential (GWP) category, and ISO 14046 (ISO - International Organization for Standardization, 2014) for categories related to water use, toxicity, eutrophication and acidification assess the sustainability of production systems.

Umwelt- und Agrarstudie

DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.144650

Weizen und Weizenerzeugnisse
Weizen gehört – mit Mais, Reis und Gerste – zu den wichtigsten Getreidearten der Welt und gilt in vielen Teilen der Welt als Grundnahrungsmittel. Der Weizen ist beispielsweise Grundzutat für Backwaren (z.B. Brot) und Teigwaren (z. B. Nudeln) und wird auch als Futtermittel in der Nutztierhaltung eingesetzt. Hartweizen wird dabei primär für die Herstellung von Teigwaren verwendet, während Weichweizen in erster Linie für die Erzeugung von Brot und Futtermittel genommen wird. Die wichtigsten Erzeugerregionen von Weizen weltweit im Jahr 2024/25 sind China, die Europäische Union und Indien. Zu den führenden Exporteuren von Weizen gehören Russland, die EU und Kanada. Die wichtigsten Importländer von Weizen und Weizenprodukten wiederum sind China, Ägypten und Indonesien. Da Russland und auch die Ukraine zu den wichtigsten Exporteuren von Weizen gehören, hat der Russland-Ukraine-Krieg im Jahr 2022 die globalen Weizenmärkte in Aufruhr gebracht. Sorge vor Ernte- und Transportausfällen sowie steigende Weizenpreise waren die Folge.

Deutschland als Weizen-Selbstversorger
Innerhalb der EU war Deutschland, nach Frankreich, das wichtigste Anbauland von Weizen. Die Erntemenge von Weizen belief sich hierzulande zuletzt auf über 18,8 Millionen Tonnen. Damit gehört Weizen zu den wichtigsten Getreidesorten in Deutschland. Dabei wird vor allem Weichweizen angebaut. Mit einem Selbstversorgungsgrad von 118 Prozent ist Deutschland nicht auf Weichweizenimporte aus dem Ausland angewiesen - so auch nicht aus der Ukraine. Demzufolge kann Deutschland einen Teil seines Weizens sogar exportieren. Die wichtigsten Abnehmerländer für Weizen aus Deutschland waren zuletzt die Niederlande, Marokko und Belgien. Insgesamt befinden sich unter den führenden Zielländern von deutschem Weizen mehrere afrikanische und asiatische Staaten. Anders sieht die Lage beim Hartweizen aus: Hier lag der Selbstversorgungsgrad zuletzt bei 19 Prozent. Damit ist Deutschland bei dieser Produktkategorie importabhängig. Hartweizen wird in erster Linie für die Herstellung von Teigwaren wie Nudeln oder Couscous verwendet.

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Wheat grains are dry one-seeded fruits (caryopses), in which fruit and seed coats are tightly linked. The husk is fused to the fruit coat in the hulled species einkorn, emmer, and spelt, which means that the husk cannot be separated from the grain by threshing. The grains consist of five main compartments with different constituents and biological functions: Fruit coat (pericarp) (4–5% of grain weight) and seed coat (testa) (≈1%) are the outer layers and surround the whole grain. The inner tissues (endosperm) comprise the aleurone layer (6–9%) and the starchy endosperm (80–85%). The germ (3%) located at the dorsal side of the caryopsis is the embryo, which includes a storage cotyledon and the embryonic axis. Dry (moisture content <12.5%), cool (<10°C), and pest-free storage of wheat grains protects against crop failure by providing a buffer to ensure nutrition security worldwide.

Narrativew Review

DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2020.517313

Study: weak evidence

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Laborstudie (in vitro)

DOI: 10.1016/j.jff.2016.05.019

Study: weak evidence